Traveling outside of Great Britain for the first time, this marvelous new exhibition presents some of the most important works from the Victoria and Albert’s outstanding collection of Dutch and Flemish drawings, one of the principle holdings in Britain. Showing approximately 90 works from the 16th to the 20th centuries, it includes masterpieces by Peter Paul Rubens, Sir Anthony van Dyck and Rembrandt van Rijn. Works by lesser-known artists are also included, as well as designs for architecture and the applied arts, demonstrating the diversity and enduring artistic and technical excellence of Netherlandish artists. This is the first time this remarkable and little-known collection has been exhibited internationally.

Drawn from a collection spanning 400 years, the exhibition includes designs for stained glass, tapestries and prints, alongside portraits, figure studies, genre scenes, landscape, and botanical studies. The drawings are grouped thematically and chronologically to demonstrate contrasts and similarities between the artistic style and practice in the Northern and Southern Netherlands. Drawings range from sketches and sketchbooks to working studies and finished “pictured drawings,” using a variety of mediums and techniques including watercolors, “trois crayons” and pastels.

Image 1: Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), “A Huntsman Resting with His Hounds,” About 1635, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 2: Hans Bol (1534-1593), “A Covered Wagon Traversing a Road between Two Inns, 1580, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 3: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), “Study of a Seated Woman (The Virgin),” About 1606, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 4: Frans Snyders (1579-1657), “Still-Life with Dead Game on a Table,” About 1615, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 5: Attributed to Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625), “Travellers on a Road on the Side of a Hill with a Wood on the Right,” About 1619, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 6: Jacob Savery (ca.1565-1603), “A Village Kermis,” 1598, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum
Image 7:  Willem Maris (1844-1910), “Milking time,” Late 19th century, Image © Victoria and Albert Museum.