Bart Cornelis – författare

Capturing the human in painting Frans Hals is one of the most important portrait painters of all time. Like Rembrandt, the famous Dutch Baroque master’s striking portraits of the bourgeoisie and social outsiders are distinguished by their extraordinary vividness and accurate depiction. His sketch-like paintings, executed with bold brushstrokes, had a decisive influence on modernist painting. This comprehensive publication coincides with the first major survey exhibition of Hals’ oeuvre in more than thirty years.

An expert look at the life and captivating work of the Dutch painter Nicolaes Maes, Rembrandt’s most famous pupilThis book offers a close look at the art of Dutch Golden Age painter Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693). One of Rembrandt’s most talented students, Maes began by painting biblical scenes in the style of his famous teacher. He later produced extraordinary genre pieces, in which the closely observed actions of the main figure, often a woman, have a hushed, almost monumental character. Maes also depicted mothers with children or older women praying or sleeping; such works have placed him among the most popular painters of the Dutch Golden Age. From around 1660, Maes turned exclusively to portraiture, and his elegant style attracted wealthy and eminent clients from Dordrecht and Amsterdam. This generously illustrated volume is the first in English to cover the full range of his repertoire. The authors—curators from the National Gallery, London, and the Mauritshuis, The Hague—bring extensive knowledge to bear for the benefit of specialists and the general public.Published by National Gallery Company in association with the Mauritshuis, The Hague, and Waanders Publishers, Zwolle/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:Mauritshuis(October 17, 2019–January 19, 2020)National Gallery, London(February 22–May 31, 2020)

An illuminating study of the singularly gifted Dutch artist Frans Hals, a true revolutionary in the field of portraiture and one of the most sought-after painters of his generation This beautifully illustrated book offers a fresh scholarly appraisal of Frans Hals, more than 30 years since the last large exhibition devoted to his work. Essays cover all the important aspects of Hals’s oeuvre, including his militia paintings, his spectacular family portraits and his depictions of laughter: he was one of very few artists throughout the history of Western painting who successfully managed to paint people smiling and laughing. The texts also provide an overview of the artist’s life, and examine his extraordinarily virtuoso technique, which involved painting extremely fast straight on to the canvas. The authors set out to place Hals and his work firmly in the context of his time, employing new previously unpublished archival research and technical findings. For the first time, an overview is given of all the apprentices who worked for Hals. Other themes, such as the design for portrait prints or the humour seen in the works of Frans Hals, have never before been treated separately. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press

In this celebration of collecting, in 34 essays, renowned curators and art historians discuss the acquisition of works of art, medieval to modern, by museums in Europe and the United States – acquisitions that have made a difference, crucial acquisitions from a more distant but also the recent past. There was a time when museums might have been regarded as rather forbidding and austere centers of learning, but today they are more likely to position themselves firmly within the tourism and leisure industry with all manner of food, fun and family entertainment on offer. A high-profile museum brand often relies on a fast-changing menu of temporary exhibitions with an attractive program of activities, cleverly marketed to ever-growing numbers of visitors. Many of these changes have been positive and beneficial but they have not been without risk to the central purpose of museums as repositories for collections that are looked after, researched and displayed with knowledge and sensitivity. The permanent collection should be the heart and soul of any museum. Nurtured and developed with intelligence, a collection can be an endless source of surprise and delight as well as a focus of local and national pride. The museum in this view is a setting for sustained encounters with objects and works of art, somewhere to be visited and revisited over the course of a lifetime, a place that helps to bind communities, with collections that are cared for and shared as a reminder of the past and a source of inspiration for the present. The process of acquiring works for public collections is rarely easy in any setting. In the face of escalating prices on the art market and diminishing public funds it is all too easy for complacency and apathy to settle upon the museum community. But the task of building collections of national or local importance is never finished. It should not be about casual ‘shopping’ or satisfying the whims of museum directors or sponsors. It is about building a heritage that is richer, more complete and more relevant for future generations; with every successful acquisition, a museum’s collection gains in strength and character. The volume is dedicated to Peter Hecht, the great champion of public art collections, who throughout his career has worked to show us why museums matter and how their collections, large or small, national or local, can make a profound difference to the lives of those who use them. We hope that it will bring people the world over to realize the importance of collecting for the public, locally, nationally and internationally, and to acknowledge and encourage the role of private individuals, associations and institutions, as well as public bodies, in this vital endeavor.