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Press Release, 24th September 2003 The most important exhibition of Dutch seventeenth century masterpieces ever to go on show in Dublin, entitled, "Love Letters: Dutch Genre Paintings in the Age of Vermeer", opens to the public in the Millennium Wing of the National Gallery of Ireland on Wednesday, 1 October, 2003. The exhibition will be formally opened by H.E. Jacobus van der Velden, Dutch Ambassador to Ireland, on Tuesday, 30th September. Organised by the National Gallery of Ireland and the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in Connecticut, the exhibition is supported by Peter Mark - main corporate sponsor, and the Royal Netherlands Embassy. "We are absolutely delighted to be associated with this internationally renowned exhibition," said Jenny McDermott, Head of Marketing, Peter Mark. "The extraordinary timeless talent of the artists combined with the romance which the art of letter writing evokes promises to make this a truly wonderful event for those visiting the exhibition, and something we are truly proud to support," she continued. The exhibition brings together over forty masterpieces drawn from the great museums of the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States of America, together with works from private collections in Europe and the USA. The central theme of the exhibition is the activity of letter writing first established as a genre in its own right, by the great Dutch masters of the seventeenth century. Among the masterpieces on display will be Vermeer's, 'A Lady Writing' from the National Gallery of Art, Washington and 'The Love Letter' from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The paintings of Vermeer and his contemporaries still hold their fascination today, not only because of their remarkable ability as painters, but also because they stir in the onlooker a curiosity to know more about the lives and emotions of their inhabitants. Also on view will be paintings by one of the greatest Dutch masters of the Golden Age, Gerard ter Borch, the artist who first popularized the letter theme. His painting of 'A Woman Writing a Letter' (Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis, The Hague) is considered the "perfect embodiment of this elegant new treatment of the letter theme." Masterpieces by Johannes Vermeer and Gabriel Metsu from the National Gallery's own collection will be included in the exhibition. Dublin is the only European venue for this enchanting show before it travels to the USA, says Raymond Keaveney, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland. He adds that in an age when the personal letter has become almost extinct, this exhibition is a dazzling reminder of how the great masters of the Golden Age sought to depict the subtle range of human emotions affected by such a seemingly simple aspect of daily life. The Director acknowledged the generosity of all the lenders without whom the show would ever have been realised. In the lavishly
illustrated catalogue to the show, Dr. Peter Sutton, Executive Director
of the Bruce Museum in Connecticut, and curator of the exhibition,
says the leading Dutch masters of genre painting like Vermeer, Metsu,
ter Borch, and de Hooch, produced wonderful images of people reading,
writing, receiving and dispatching letters. Their paintings, "document
for the first time in any culture the full range and power of letters
not merely as an expression of ritualistic social interaction but
as a highly personal form of communication delivering pleasure,
pain and a full spectrum of emotion." One artist, he notes,
who brought the subject of letter writing to classical perfection
was Vermeer. "His world of letters is a feminine one, with
women standing in the light reading letters alone with such hushed
expectation that they seem to hold their breath." Tickets for the exhibition may be booked or purchased from Monday, 29 September, by telephone, 01-663 3513 or directly from the Gallery's Box Office in the Millennium Wing, Clare Street. In anticipation of a high demand to view this show, the National Gallery will be allocating timed-tickets. Prices are: €10, €6 (concessions), €23 (family rate: 2 adults, 3 children); children under 5 years, free. An Acoustiguide audio tour will be available for hire (€2) and a special lecture series 'Letter Writing in the Age of Vermeer' will take place throughout October (free). School tours of the exhibition may be booked in advance through the Education Department (3 weeks advance notice is recommended, tel. 01-663 3510). Note to Arts/Features Editors: Dr. Peter Sutton, Executive Director, Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Connecticut, and Curator of 'Love Letters' will conduct a media preview of the exhibition in the National Gallery of Ireland, on Tuesday, 30 September from 11:00am. RSVP: press@ngi.ie Exhibition:
'Love Letters: Dutch Genre Paintings in the Age of Vermeer' Venues:
Bruce Museum of Arts and Science, Greenwich, Connecticut For further
information, contact:: **An Post-Love Letter Stamp Issue **- to coincide with the opening of the 'Love Letters' exhibition and as part of the Gallery's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2004, An Post have issued the second in a series of three stamp sets featuring works from the collection, among them Gabriel Metsu's 'Woman Reading a Letter' and 'A Man Writing a Letter', both of which are included in the exhibition. These stamps are available from An Post. Visit www.irishstamps.ie How to find
us: Gallery
opening hours:
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