Brueghel in Business in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol

Paintings by the famous Brueghel brothers are featured in the new exhibition at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport from 28 October to 22 February 2010. Nine works by Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel, sons of the celebrated 16th-century Flemish painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder, are presented. The exhibition examines how they both took advantage in different ways of the popularity that their father’s work enjoyed. The paintings are from the Rijksmuseum collection and have been preserved in the Bonnefantenmuseum.

The paintings are presented in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol due to the 125 year anniversary of the Bonnefantenmuseum. The Brueghel dynasty of artists is known for its large-scale studio production. One of the factors that made this possible was the emancipation of the urban middle class and the growing affluence of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, which led to a steady increase in demand for paintings. Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1520/25-1568) was tremendously popular in his own lifetime, and even more so after his death. Everyone wanted a painting by Brueghel. In 1572, Vicar-General Morillon wrote to Cardinal Granvelle, for whom he had been instructed to buy a Brueghel that “[the works are] plus requisses depuis son trespas que par avant” (even more sought-after since his death than before).

Both of Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s sons, Pieter the Younger (1564-1637/38) and Jan (1568- 1625), focused on specific aspects of their father’s popular paintings. Pieter the Younger made numerous precise copies of his father’s compositions, particularly of his characteristic peasant scenes. Jan concentrated on the small, delicately detailed landscapes, genre pieces and floral still lifes for which there was a huge demand in the art market. And while Pieter the Younger employed a range of often anonymous assistants in his studio, Jan Brueghel preferred to collaborate with the leading artists of his generation: Rubens, Hans Rottenhammer, Frans Snyders and other outstanding figures of the Antwerp art world at the Dawn of the Golden Age.

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Schiphol Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol is located on Holland Boulevard, in the airside section of the airport, between piers E and F. The museum is open daily, from 7 am to 8 pm and admission is free. Schiphol Rijksmuseum features a permanent exhibition of ten works by Dutch masters of the Golden Age from the Rijksmuseum collection. Three temporary shows are shown each year.

ING is exclusive sponsor of Schiphol Rijksmuseum.

For further information, contact:
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Press & Publicity
Boris de Munnick/Elles Kamphuis
T 31 (0)20 674 71 71 or 674 71 72
F 31 (0)20 6747004
pressoffice@rijksmuseum.nl
www.rijksmuseum.nl

Schiphol Group
Corporate Communications
Kathelijne Vermeulen
P.O. Box 7501
1118 ZG Schiphol Airport
The Netherlands
T. +31(0)20 6012673
F. +31(0)20 6012253
E. pressoffice@schiphol.nl

Bonnefantenmuseum
Press Office
Guillemette Naessens
P.O.Box 1735
6201 BS Maastricht
The Netherlands
T. +31 (0)43 32 9 01 10
F. +31 (0)43 329 01 99

17 September 2009