Davis Discoveries 17th-Century Dutch Pen-Painting

Friday, October 23, 2015 - 2:00pm

Davis Museum Lobby, Harold and Estelle Newman Tanner Gallery

Willem van de Velde the Elder (1611-1693) was celebrated as the leading Dutch marine painter or draughtsman of the later 17th century. His later paintings shaped the development of seascape painting in England during the 18th century, and mainly represented particular vessels and naval events.

During the 17th century, he developed the subgenre of “pen-paintings.” This process involved drawing detailed pictures with a pen and black pigment on a prepared white wooden panel, or occasionally canvas. His pen paintings, austere in their dark wood frames, are among the masterpieces of the Golden Age of Dutch painting.These astonishingly detailed works, executed with fine brushes and quill pens, are particularly rare in American collections. Davis curators were delighted to discover a superlative example tucked away in storage, and have pursued conservation treatment to restore its condition. This afternoon symposium features presentations by Associate Curator, Claire Whitner, on the painting’s history; Rhona MacBeth, the Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo Conservator and Head of Paintings Conservation at the MFA Boston, who conducted the technical study and treatment; and Daniel Finamore, Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum.

This event is supported through the generosity of Wellesley College Friends of Art, now celebrating 50 years of giving.

http://www.wellesley.edu/event/node/63821