Towns, farms, waterways, and woods—discover how Rembrandt, Van Goyen, Van Ruisdael, and more approached these subjects as meditations on humankind’s relationship with the environment.
Between the late 16th century and the early 18th century, artists working in the Netherlands—then known as the Dutch Republic—produced an extraordinary number of landscape drawings. Many of these works depicted sites that were either recognizable as or evocative of the country’s cities, villages, and countryside. This profusion of local imagery coincided with the young country’s quest for global dominion, as well as with war and dramatic ecological change at home. As notions of Dutch “territory” shifted, artists engaged with the world by drawing outside, from direct observation—a practice repeatedly encouraged in the art theory of the period. Once back in the studio, they could produce finished drawings and works in other media, adapting observed motifs or fusing them into altered or imagined views. In so doing, they constructed a selective vision of the Dutch landscape that by turns depicted, hinted at, or ignored the changes occurring around them.
With 90 works selected almost entirely from the holdings of the Harvard Art Museums and the Maida and George Abrams Collection, this exhibition demonstrates how Dutch artists navigated intersections, or crossroads, between artistic traditions and environmental realities through their drawings. It also considers the associations that the increasingly urban population of the Dutch Republic brought to these works—and what we bring to them today.
$20
Adults
$18
Seniors (65+)
Free
Sundays—free to all!
Free
All students with a valid ID
Free
Harvard ID holders (plus one guest)
Free
Harvard Art Museums Friends
Free
Youth under 18
Free
Cambridge residents (proof of residency required)
2022/05/21 - 2022/08/14
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
The Harvard Art Museums are accessible for visitors using wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Accessible entrances are located on Quincy Street and Broadway. Visitors arriving via paratransit van or similar are recommended to use the entrance on Broadway, which allows a right-side exit from the vehicle. As the Broadway entrance is otherwise closed to visitors at this time, please let us know if you plan to use this entrance so that we can prepare for your arrival.
A limited number of wheelchairs are available for loan in the lobby free of charge. Wheelchair-accessible seating and assistive-listening devices are available in our lecture halls. Large text (18-point font) Visitor Guides are available in print and via iPads on loan from our Admissions desk for visitors with low vision. We also offer handheld magnifiers.
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Sign language interpretation may be available upon request; please contact Visitor Services at least two weeks prior to the program.
For further assistance or inquiries, contact Visitor Services at 617-495-9400 or am_visitorservices@harvard.edu.