Location, Location, Location: Artistic Procedures, Knowledge, and Place in Early Modern Netherlandish Art

Artistic practice and practical forms of expertise do not occur in a vacuum, but are situated in a particular place, whether globally or locally. For instance, the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) supports the study of art from the Low Countries, but is situated in Boston; this location influences the work CNA fellows do, the objects they examine, and the networks that enhance their scholarship.

This year’s CNA colloquium explores how the particularities of place shaped not just the lives of early modern artists and scholars, but also influenced their work. Talks may consider how trade networks, interpersonal dynamics, and local ecologies influenced the possibilities for learning, the availability of technical procedures, and the markets accessible to artistic practitioners.

Organized by CNA Fellows Renata Nagy, Hannah Prescott, and Henrike Scholten.

Program

Recalling the Local in a Global Age: Linen and the Dutch Landscape in the 17th Century

Presented by Hannah Prescott, University of Maryland and predoctoral fellow, CNA

A Miniaturist Thinking Bigger: Jacob Berents, a Hamburger Immigrant in Breda and The Hague

Presented by Henrike Scholten, Utrecht University and predoctoral fellow, CNA

A Window View into a Foreign Country: Situational Collaboration in Leiden, April 1657

Presented by Jochem van Eijsden, Bader Fellow, Rembrandt House Museum; and lecturer, Emerson College European Centre in the Netherlands

Holy Ground: Biblical and Environmental Narratives in Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s ‘Parable of the Sower’ and ‘A Gloomy Day (Early Spring)’

Presented by Aine Powers, research assistant, Metropolitan Museum of Art

An Ecology of Care: Insect Studies in 17th-Century Zeeland

Presented by Renata Nagy, postdoctoral fellow, CNA

Brenninkmeyer Keynote Lecture

Presented by Dr. Stephanie Porras, Hans Brenninkmeyer Visiting Senior Fellow, CNA

The Founders of the Center for Netherlandish Art at the MFA are Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie.