Author(s): Albertina Wien

Art

The Albertina museum in Vienna owns one of the world's most important collections of Dutch drawings from the period 1430-1650. Their unrivaled collection offers a scope and quality that makes it the one of the few museums in a position to present Dutch drawing in all of its thematic, technical and stylistic diversity. "Bosch, Bruegel, Rubens, Rembrandt" presents over 150 of the best of these works, and includes outstanding individual specimens from the circles around Jan van Eyck, Petrus Christus and Dirk Bouts. Works by Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder form one of the first highlights of this astounding collection. The rest of the sixteenth century is represented by drawings from artists such as Jan Gossaert, Maarten van Heemskerck and Hendrick Goltzius. The focus of the collection, however, is Holland's "Golden Age," the seventeenth century, with important works by Rembrandt van Rijn and his school. The southern Netherlands, once dominated by the House of Hapsburg, is represented by the most famous Flemish masters of the age: Peter Paul Rubens, Anton van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens. Ranging from preparatory drawings for larger works of painting, stained glass, engravings or altars to "autonomous" works that stand alone, this catalogue offers a full spectrum of landscapes, seascapes, topographical views, portraits, rural genre scenes and still lifes.