The Dallas Museum of Art will present Vermeer Suite: Music in the 17th-Century Dutch Paintings from January 17 through August 21, 2016. This exhibition will showcase eight paintings from the Leiden Collection of New York, including work by Johannes Vermeer. Creating fewer than 40 paintings in his lifetime, Vermeer?s Young Woman Seated at a Virginal is believed to be one of artist?s last masterpieces and is the inspiration for the exhibition.
Vermeer Suite: Music in the 17th-Century Dutch Paintings will be the first exhibition featuring work from The Leiden Collection that focuses on Dutch art. This exhibit will include seven additional loans by artists Jan Steen, Gerard ter Borch, Jacob Adriaensz Ochtervelt, Eglon van der Neer, Gerard Dou, and Frans van Mieris. Each painting portrays a musician performing a period instrument to demonstrate specific aspects of 17th-century musical culture. Considered a divine gift, while also in the realm of sensuous pleasure, music in 17th-century artwork demonstrated exceptional artistic prowess by having the ability to translate varied sensory experiences into paintings.
Olivier Meslay, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Senior Curator of European and American Art, and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art says, ?Dutch paintings from the 17th century are among the most fascinating creations of the Western world, and this focused exhibition presents this extraordinary time period beautifully.?
DMA Friends will be able to earn the Vermeer Suite: Music in 17th-Century Dutch Paintings Special Exhibition Badge. The DMA?s weekly Wednesday Gallery Talk at 12:15 p.m. will discuss the exhibition on January 20 and May 18. The Bancroft Family Concert series at the DMA will celebrate the exhibition on Saturday, February 20, at 3:00 p.m. during the free concert with early music scholar Kristin Van Cleve. ?Additional programs will be scheduled throughout the exhibition. For details, dates, and prices, visit DMA.org. For more information on the DMA Friends program, visit DMA.org/friends.