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[STK]
[IN] TRA ENT ART ATL
[SU] NPT
-- WITH PHOTO -- TO ARTS, NATIONAL, AND TRAVEL EDITORS:
Dutch Masterpiece By Ruisdael Acquired By The Kimbell Art Museum
FORT WORTH, Texas, March 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Kimbell Art Museum announced today the acquisition of Edge of a Forest
with a Grainfield, c. 1656, an exceptional work by one of the greatest
landscape painters of all time, Jacob van Ruisdael. As the leading
exponent of the Dutch landscape tradition in the 17th century,
Ruisdael was renowned for his love of nature and for his ability to
render its glories in paint. The remarkable work, impressively large
and in near-perfect condition, is considered by experts to be among
the greatest Dutch landscapes in the world.
"Edge of a Forest with a Grainfield epitomizes Ruisdael's mastery of
landscape painting, uniting an unprecedented observation of nature
with a sympathetic feeling for the bounteous glory of the Dutch
countryside," commented Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art
Museum. "It is an imposing complement to the Kimbell's Rough Sea at a
Jetty, one of his most important seascapes. Whether depicting the sea
or the land, these paintings attest to Ruisdael's profound love of
nature in all its forms."
Seymour Slive, professor emeritus in the department of fine arts at
Harvard University, former director of the Harvard University Art
Museums, and the world's greatest authority on Ruisdael, called the
painting "a world-class masterpiece," describing it as "an unusually
large, signed, and almost miraculously well-preserved masterwork by
the greatest and most versatile-by far-17th-century Dutch
landscapist."
Edge of a Forest with a Grainfield was donated by an alumnus to Oxford
University'sWorcester College in 1811. Except for its appearance in
exhibitions, including the famous Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition
of 1857, the painting remained in the possession of Worcester College
until its purchase by the Kimbell Art Foundation through a private
treaty sale negotiated by Christie's, London, represented by Nicholas
Hall.
The painting is in remarkably good condition. Before it is put on
display at the Kimbell this April, director of conservation Claire
Barry will delicately adjust small areas of old restoration. The
landscape will be enhanced by an antique Dutch frame, dated to
approximately 1730, in the French style, typical of the luxurious but
restrained frames placed on paintings by Ruisdael in the century after
his death.
More information available at kimbellart.org
Image Available Upon Request
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140309/DC79225
SOURCE Kimbell Art Museum
-0- 03/09/2014
/CONTACT: 817-332-8451, Jessica Brandrup, ext. 241, jbrandrup@kimbellmuseum.org, or Barbara Smith, ext. 248, bsmith@kimbellmuseum.org
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140309/DC79225
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
/Web Site: https://www.kimbellart.org
CO: Kimbell Art Museum
ST: Texas
IN: TRA ENT ART ATL
SU: NPT
PRN
-- DC79225 --
0000 03/09/2014 10:00:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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