Gerrit van Honthorst, Dutch, 1590 – 1656
The Concert, 1623
oil on canvas. unframed: 123 × 206 cm (48 7/16 × 81 1/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Patrons’ Permanent Fund and Florian Carr Fund, 2013.38.1
Detail of the painting
NGA Washington buys Gerrit van Honthorst’s ‘Concert’ The National Gallery of Art, Washington, has announced the acquisition of “The Concert”, a 1623 masterpiece by Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst (1592–1656).]]>
November 23, 2013, source: NGA Washington
“The Concert”, the Gallery’s first painting by Honthorst, is a vital addition to its collection of Caravaggist work. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to experience a painting so significant in terms of scale, skill, and its place in art history. Measuring more than six-feet wide, this festive scene depicts a group of brightly dressed musicians and singers cheerfully following the lead of a concertmaster.
Honthorst was one of the Utrecht “Caravaggisti,” and like many other European artists of his generation, he traveled to Rome, where he was inspired by the radical stylistic and thematic ideas of Italian baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.
“Until recently, the influence of Caravaggio on the art of Northern Europe had not been represented in the Gallery’s otherwise rich collection of Dutch art,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. “The acquisition in 2009 of Hendrick ter Brugghen’s ‘Bagpipe Player’, 1624, was a first step in addressing this gap. Together with the Gallery’s Italian, French, and Spanish Caravaggist paintings, the works by these two Dutch masters convey the enormous impact of Caravaggio’s style in the 17th century.“
“The painting is in remarkable condition considering its size and history, and conservation treatment at the Gallery has fully restored it to its former glory,” said Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque paintings.
According to the New York Times, some sources have hinted that the price of the painting was around $20 million.
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NGA Washington acquires artworks in several mediums (news, July 2013)
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