The Detroit Institute of Arts will open an exhibition titled “From Bruegel to Rembrandt: Dutch and Flemish Prints and Drawings from 1550 to 1700.” It will open Saturday, Feb. 15 and run through Sunday, July 26.
The exhibition will feature more than 100 pieces by artists such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Rembrandt from the DIA’s permanent collection. It is in conjunction with “Bruegel’s ‘The Wedding Dance’ Revealed” and shows the range of printmaking techniques and styles used in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Pieces include everything from elaborate engravings by Hendrick Goltzius to the use of dots, dashes, and squiggles by Rembrandt.
Drawings by Dutch and Flemish masters span portrait sketches to detailed preparatory drawings and were used as brainstorming sessions for more complex works or as visual references for future pieces.
The artists portrayed everyday subjects with themes including the importance of landscape, the role of Greek and Roman classical models, and the use of religious imagery during the Counter-Reformation.
“This exhibition shows the incredible depth of Dutch and Flemish art in the DIA collection,” says Clare Rogan, curator of prints and drawings. “It includes selections from the encyclopedic collection of prints and drawings gathered in the 1880s by newspaper magnate James E. Scripps (1835-1906) and given by his widow, Mrs. Harriet J. Scripps (1838-1933) in 1909, as well as rare drawings identified by DIA director Wilhelm Valentiner (1880–1958) during the 1920s and 1930s. Over the years, we have continued to collect treasures in this area, and the pieces in this exhibition include some of the more fun or quirky prints and drawings from our collection from this time period.”
The exhibition and “Bruegel’s ‘The Wedding Dance’ Revealed” are free with museum admission, which is free for residents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.
The museum is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission for those outside of the tri-county area is $14 for adults, $9 for seniors over the age of 62, $8 for college students, and $6 for youth ages 6-17.
The DIA has more than 60,000 works of art from ancient times through the 21st century. It includes the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum and Diego Rivera’s world-renowned “Detroit Industry” murals.
