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while i get myself

settled, maybe a show of hands. how many already been to see the exhibition? a number of you. first of all let me say good afternoon and first and foremost i would like to thank my colleagues in the education department in the fine arts museum of san francisco for an allowing me to speak today. valuable artwork -- rene, director of public programs and last on this list but certainly not least gregory stock who is a programming wizard. i'm so grateful for their individual and collective support. i would also like to thank the production manager who is

behind-the-scenes somewhere. he's waving. our production manager consistently provide patient and reliable technical support which is beyond value when lecturing to large audiences like those of you gathered today. without further a do, i'm honored to share with you today paintings that comprise the exhibition here at the museum. girl with a pearl earring, from january 26-june 2nd the museum will be the first venue in the american tour of paintings from the royal picture gallery which is located in haik. how many have individual painting in the normal home? a good number of you. this unique museum is often called the jouleewelry

box. it has the world's most prestigious paintings from the morris house which toured in 1982, it visited chicago, new york and los angeles. this has been several years in the making . there were approximately 48 paintings in tokyo and both of those about

dutch an paintings. 30 paintings in this exhibition were in japan and 5 paintings that came to us specifically in san francisco. two of them fresh out of the conservation lab so they are being revealed in their full glory to our visitors in san francisco. an expansion in the mars house which is currently under way makes this opportunity possible. the girl with the pearl earring here in san francisco feet atures 35 paintings characteristic during the dutch golden age. after the exhibition closes in san francisco it will travel to the

museum in atlanta and it will go to a collection in new york. perhaps the most famous of the works that has traveled to the united states is a celebrated masterpiece girl with the pearl earring. it is this painting. we set our scene in holland during the dutch golden age this span of the 17th century where trade, industry and science were among the world. the one small port of amsterdam were one of the commercial centers in the entire world. this concentration of capital enriched bankers and merchants but also created the society in

europe. the arch of the dutch golden age. 17th century travelers visiting holland remarked on the number of artist. typically western european artist on the monarch and the nobility as well as the very wealthie catholic church. an open market to a wide clientele that arranged from variety of merchants. it displays a modern domestic rather than extravagant or royal setting which it was carried. emily who is the director of the morris house.

the expansion which i will talk about in an a little bit will give it more space. for the collection there is a limited pictures they can acquire but too large for the building. so where do the paintings come from? how can they be there. this is an exceptional and remarkable museum. this splendid 17th century city palace was constructed between

1633-1634 next to the dutch government. i was told the prime ministers office was still there. it was named for the building's first occupant. the countel elevated to prince and appoint commander and chief in the states army in 1668. the dutch they purchased an outstanding example of this architecture in 1820 to have the royal cabinet of painting and curiosity. this collection rich history is the stockholders in 1822. it's official name, royal picture gallery morris

house. today the morris house collection focuses on the best 17th century paintings from the northern and southern netherlands, the works of world renounced artist, all of which are in this exhibition. it also exhibits work of superb examples of this age. the collection makes the morris house a rare and precious place. truly the gem of dutch mucous. it's similar to our allegiance of honor in san francisco, they too like we have 850 paintings in their permanent collection and display about 250 at any time which is a recollect legs of

any of our buildings which i like to think of the jew el in the city of san francisco. the historic 17th century palace has limited his ability to expand. so works from his permanent collection have moved to a common and incompetent competent missionary program. the vacant build across the street from the morris home is a building with an underground link. when the project is

complete, the museum will be twice as large, modern and up to date visitor facilities will include new space for educational program. auditorium, a shop and cafe, and new exhibition galleries. the elegant design for this substantial expansion will be calibrated for the atmosphere of the morris house. this due to reopen in mid 2014. we were told they are definitely on schedule to reopen in 2014. if you plan to make the trip now, you can probably book your tickets safely, although don't hold me accountable for that. we have a special opportunity to enjoy a superb collection from the morris house here in

san francisco. so my lecture is organized to correspond with the section headings for each gallery. the sequence in which i will discuss the paintings correspond with the layout. the first gallery exhibition is devoted to landscape paintings. dutch landscape and it's characteristic atmospheric conditions provided countless artist with rich subject matter. it's sprawling fields and ubiquitious canals with beautiful natural surroundings. the low lying horizons and cloidz at clouds that dominated the paintings. many dutch landscapes also feature the

regions beautiful and prosperous cities which were sources of great pride in the 17th century artist painted close-ups. here we see his painting of the circus party 1690 which features the morris house. this looks quite similar to what you would see today although when he painted the picture, you wouldn't have this view, there were a row of buildings here, so this is a little bit of artistic license and interesting to think about because this is way the site looks today but wouldn't have looked like that in 1690 when he paint this picture. this is the gate that is still here today. this is the catholic

church by manuel. this is the only type of it's exhibition. although it is an interior scene, the 17th century dutch painting which is the artist attention to the effect of life. here the artist subject is the atmosphere and play of light in an imagined catholic church. diffused light through the church. bathing interest rain shower interior with the glow and architectural space. here we see view of harlem with bleaching ground 1675. he was

the leading painter of this golder age. view of harlem with bleaching ground not until the bash zone schools he painted on easels to look what was going to be translated. it's something to look at artist typically from going back to the studios and painting. another example master full approach to the landscape genre is evidenced here in landscape 1660-1670. he has captured the forest with ice, frost and snow covered ground. the virtually

monochromatic scene. it's interesting to point out that 17th dutch paintings is related to the usual climactic conditions at the time. from 1850 all of western europe experienced an ice age. he painted 25 winter landscapes during the most severe period of relative cool summers and cold winters. most of europe is experience is a cold winter so she's dragging her suit case behind her to make sure she got here for the open exhibition.

there are actually 2 famous dutch painters ruisdael whose paintings we just looked at. he's also represented in our exhibition of this gallery. health and safety here is his view of his painting from 1648 which is in our own collection. if we compare the two paintings, we see similarity in the cloud t low horizon line and the small scale in the figure of the boat and the small scale of the natural world and the beautiful reflection on the water. these two paintings demonstrate the

very best paintings. another pioneer of this genre is january van joeg an from 1653 and this is thunderstorm from 1541 at the collection of the fine arts museum. this painting and van rios painting i showed you are in our other building in linkin park. here we see the two paintings side by side. the thunderstorm shows figure overcome by a powerful tempest where a van voin manipulates master full creations. in both compositions, the low lines emphasize the cloud which over

power the skies. height ening the thunderstorms and the waves to white cap peaks. yet the distant horizon which suggest the two paintings can be a before and after pair. which they are not, but i'm taking a bit of art historical period there. two superb examples wooded landscapes and cattle in the meadow in 1662.

other artist went further in search of subject matter. some went to italy where the renaissance as well as the radiant southern landscape provided fruitful sources of inspiration. the mediterranean art that emanates from italian landscape circa 2045. the next version is the distinct to dutch still life paintings in the 17th century. these were

painted with a light ed candle from 1627. compositions also became looser and sophisticated. and rachel's vase of flowers from the 1500s. the were in the conservation lab that were not included in the exhibition in japan and seeing for the first time here in san francisco. both of the house of lights are resemblance of the fine arts museum flowers in a silver vase by luna, which is on view. here we see all 3 flora still lights together.

similarities between the 3 paintings include the watches, as well as the creepy crawlingie critters the significant number of floral still life's from this period spread the wide life. blossoms from multiple studies in different seasons. merchants and explorers brought plants from their travels including the tulip. tulip was first brought from can turkey. prompting people to spend large sums cultivating new species.

today tulip is the next export. many still life paintings also contain morals references and creepy flowers and insects, time pieces and skulls. and which is seen here in the venice still life by peter from 1630. we also see very similar details between the still life with peter clay which was painted in 1629. the open pocket watches are references to the transient of life since they remind us of the passing of life. since they record

perishable and paint as long as the canvas remains intact. the sublime light filters through the light and reflection on the inside of the glass as well as the optical effects of the objects that shine through the glass. while these still life paintings are filled with a variety of details, there are some still life's in the exhibition which are much more spare. such as adrian, from 1704. although much of this artist details are shrouded in history. notice how the branch

and the beautifully rendered leaves catch the light on the right hand corner. it gives this piece a magical feeling as if these apricots are beyond just mere fruit. there are 67 paintings recognized by court's hand. an exhibition entirely devoted to the artist. there are about half of the known works in this exhibition and the director of the morris house remarked that she thought for herself that maybe this exhibition won't be popular because all of his tend to be the same, you have a stone slab and fruit and it was definitely popular and shows the demand of this artist skill and his

paintings or so beautiful even though they are spare and he's so mysterious. an artist does not need to be -- a highlight of an exhibition. a competition, my favorite painting in the exhibition. this is particularly exciting since it is considered an icon of dutch 17th century paintings. created in 1654 this competition is 1 of 12 paintings which survived. he studied in rembrandt studio long with his brother. it's

represent in his own collection this painting was off view and now has returned to our conservation studio. tragically, painter of the gold finch died in his early 30s. his studio was a gun powder magazine. an explosion occurred and it completely destroyed carl 's studio. numerous works were lost. although his existing paintings are view, his impact on other artist

cannot be overlooked. his quality for his compositions, and paired to hoek who are known for they are effects, elusionism and quite atmosphere and fluid control of paint. one interesting detail about the the condition of the painting is if you look very closely on the surface you might see that there are scattered very small dense and this painting is dated the same year as the gunpowder explosion. it's a story we can't prove but kind of a romantic story that this painting was once in a studio and perhaps they are caused by some debris during the explosion. it a story we can't prove but something to speculate about. the next section of the exhibition is devoted