WORLDLY POSSESSIONS: Visualizing Ownership in the Age of the Baroque

This exhibition invites the contemporary viewer to look at a range of material from the collection of the McMaster Museum of Art in the context of broader European concerns about possession and ownership in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Issues of consumerism and consumption are addressed in many early Dutch still-life paintings, yet these images, along with portraits and genre pictures, also serve to bridge a divide between material desire and the mortality of a predominantly Protestant society.  A luxurious still-life, for instance, was not simply a depiction of opulence but a means of giving legitimacy to the desire for wealth and its acquisition.  In a society confronted by rapid economic growth, colonialism and the questionable methods by which much of the wealth was being acquired, this was a matter of considerable importance.

Reception: September 19th, 6 – 8 pm
Curator’s Talk by Professor Gregory Davies:  September 20 at 12:30 pm (Hamilton Lifelong Learning Week event)
Guided Tours:  September 27 & 28 at 12:30 pm (National Culture Days events)

LIST OF WORKS

Philips Breughel  (Flemish 1635-c.1662), Still Life with Pike, Barbel and Vegetables, mid 17th Century, oil on canvas, 88.3 x 115.3 cm, Levy Bequest Purchase, 1995

Adriaen Brouwer  (Flemish 1605-1638), The Drinker / The Bitter Draught, c. 1635-1638, oil on wood panel, 34.3 x 27.1 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Guillaume de L’Isle  (French 1675-1726), L’Amerique Septentrionale, 1708, engraving, hand coloured, 46 x 59.3 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Attributed to Gerrit Dou  (Dutch 1613-1675), Portrait of Dou’s Father, 1635 – 1640, oil on canvas, 22.9 x 20.3 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Attributed to Gerrit Dou  (Dutch 1613-1675), Portrait of Rembrandt’s Father, n.d., oil on canvas, 19.2 x 15.3 cm, Gift of Herman Levy Esq., 1984

Albrecht Dürer  (German 1471-1528), Das Meerwunder / The Sea Monster, 1498, wood engraving, 25 x 18.4 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Wenzel (Wenceslaus) Hollar  (Czechoslovakian 1607-1677), Woman with coiled hair (after Albrecht Dürer), 1646, Published by Adam Alexius Bierling, etching, 25.4 x 18 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq.,  o.B.E., 1984

Jodocus Hondius  (Flemish 1563-1612), America Septentrionalis, 1609, engraving, hand coloured, 37.5 x 50.8 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Herman Moll  (Dutch c. 1654-1732), A New and Exact Map of the Coast, Countries and Islands within the Limits of the South Sea Company, 1711, engraving, hand coloured, 49.2 x 66.3 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Dutch 1606-1669), The Golf Player, 1654, etching, 9.5 x 14.2 cm, On extended loan from Mrs. Miriam Lebow

Bastiaan Stoopendael  (Dutch, 1637-1693), De Stadt Algiers / La Ville d’Alger, 17th Century, engraving, 28 x 35.5 cm, Gift of the Herman Levy Estate, 1990

Michael (Michiel) Sweerts  (Flemish 1618-1664)  *reattributed to Mary Beale in 2015 , Head of a Young Man, mid 17th Century, oil on paper affixed to canvas, 39.3 x 31.2 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Unknown , later copy of Paulus MoreelseShepherdess, 1614, oil on panel, 67.2 x 51.3 cm, B.M. Greene Bequest, 1963

Unknown, active in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, c. 1650, Portrait of Three Children, 17th Century, oil on canvas, 42.6 x 33.1 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Unknown, in the manner of Edwaert Collier (Dutch c. 1640-1708), Trompe L’Oeil, oil on canvas, 54 x 37.8 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Unknown, Flemish, 17th century, after Alexander Adriaenssen (Flemish 1587-1661), Still Life with Oysters, 1630s, oil on panel, 39.3 x 44.5 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Unknown, in the manner of Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640), Portrait of Maximillian, Archduke of Austria, late 16th-mid 17th Century, oil on canvas, 36.6 x 30 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Unknown Venetian, in the manner of Domenico Tintoretto (Italian 1560-1635), Portrait of an unknown man, 16th century, oil and mixed media on canvas, 45.2 x 38.7 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Aert van der Neer  (Netherlandish 1603-1677), A Frozen Waterway with Villagers Playing Kolf and Skating and a Horsedrawn Sleigh, 17th Century, oil on panel, 23.8 x 37.7 cm, Levy Bequest Purchase, 1993

Jacob van der Schley  (Dutch 1715-1779), Malaka, c. 1753, engraving, 21 x 35.5 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Willem van de Velde the Younger  (1633-1707), Seascape with coastline, 17th Century, pen and wash, 10.2 x 16.2 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Anthony van Dyck  (Flemish 1599-1641), Adam van Noort, printed posthumously c. 1680, etching, 24.7 x 15.7 cm, Purchase, 1968

Egbert van Heemskerck  (Dutch 1634-1704), Scene at the Inn, 17th century, oil on canvas, 59 x 81.5 cm, B.M. Greene Bequest, 1963

Rochus van Veen  (Dutch c. 1640-1693), Studies of Insects, 1659, watercolour, 20.8 x 29.7 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Rochus van Veen  (Dutch c. 1640-1693), Studies of Spiders, 1670, watercolour, 21 x 30.7 cm, Gift of Herman Levy, Esq., O.B.E., 1984

Other (Specimens)
Narwhal Tusks, ivory, 2.1 x 97.6 x 3.2 cm, Gift of Mr. W.M. Berry, 1980
Nautilus Shell, 14 x 8.9 x 17.1 cm, Courtesy of Gregory DaviesRed (Precious) Coral, ,9 x 8 x 13 cm, Courtesy of Gregory Davies