AIHA Plans major Dutch-Themed Exhibitions for Fall 2002

The Albany Institute of History & Art has planned a suite of five exhibitions around the themes of Dutch art, and Dutch colonial art, history and material culture as its contribution to the Beverwijck celebration.  The centerpiece of the Institute’s fall exhibition schedule will be MATTERS OF TASTE: Food and Drink in 17^th Century Dutch Art and Life, which opens on September 21, 2002 and continues through December 9.  The opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Friday, September 20. 

This unique exhibition presents sixty extraordinary 17^th century Dutch paintings together for the first time ever in America, and will only be on view at the Albany Institute of History & Art.  The paintings in MATTERS OF TASTE are on loan from some of the most prestigious public and private collections in the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Worcester Museum of Art, Wadsworth Athenaeum, and the National Gallery of Art.  Many of the paintings belonging to private collectors have never been exhibited before.

“We have been working on this project for four years,” said Tammis K. Groft, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Albany Institute.  “And it’s wonderful that it can be part of the celebrations around the Beverwicjk anniversary.” 

Art historian Donna R. Barnes and culinary historian Peter G. Rose present new perspectives on these still life and genre scenes. MATTERS OF TASTE is the first exhibition to explore the role of food and drink in the art and life of Holland in the 17^th century and their influences in the New World, especially in New Netherland, and in American traditions that last to the present day.  The exhibition is linked to Albany in many ways and will include objects from the Albany Institute Historic Cherry Hill and First Church, Albany (Dutch Reformed); recipes and correspondence about Albany kitchens from the Van Rensselaer Family, and an essay by Charles Gehring of the New Netherland Project. 

MATTERS OF TASTE will be accompanied by a book designed to appeal to a popular audience. Published by Syracuse University Press, the 192-page book will be illustrated with 60+ full-color reproductions and will include essays on the history and popularity of Dutch art in America, the symbolism of food and drink in the Dutch paintings, aspects of Dutch and Dutch-American culinary history, and 17^th-19^th century Dutch and Dutch American recipes adapted for today’s American kitchen.

In addition to MATTERS OF TASTE, AIHA will present several complementary exhibitions devoted to the themes of Dutch art and Dutch material culture in the colony of New Netherland. “The Albany Institute has a rich collection of paintings, objects and library materials related to the Dutch settlement of the region from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, and a tradition of significant scholarship in the subject matter,” Groft observes.  The complementary exhibitions will include AIHA’s renowned collection of 18^th century Hudson Valley portraits and scripture paintings; a selection of Dutch tiles from AIHA’s collection; a curriculum-based exhibition on Albany’s colonial history; and materials from Albany’s recent archaeological excavations.  A variety of curriculum-based school programs, and public programs for adult and family audiences will accompany the Dutch-themed exhibitions.

More information about this exhibition here.