For the first time in its history, the Gallery of Honor of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will permanently hang the paintings of three 17th-century painters alongside those of such famous colleagues as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals. This will include two portraits and one still life—by Judith Leyster, Gesina ter Borch, and Rachel Ruysch .
The decision comes as the Rijksmuseum and other encyclopedic art institutions around the world work to fill in gaps in their collections and exhibitions. The museum is temporarily closed now due to the pandemic situation but will open a presentation focused on the colonial past of the Netherlands.
Jenny Reynaerts, curator of 19th century painting, will be in charge of the research, and in the same note she assures that they are catching up “because the permanent collection offers an image of culture with little female perspective”. Hence, they have planned to track down the museum’s art collectors, patrons, donors or curators.
The works going on view in the Gallery of Honor include Leyster’s The Serenade (1629), which depicts a musician gazing toward a lover; Ruysch’s Still Life with Flowers in a Glass Vase (ca. 1690), one of the works that made the artist famous as a still life painter during her lifetime; and ter Borch’s Portrait in memory of Moses ter Borch (1667–69), which was created to memorialize her deceased brother.
“By asking ourselves questions and by studying various sources and objects, in addition to their exhibition, we try to give a more complete picture of the Netherlands,” Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum.
