Fort Worth -- The Kimbell Art Museum's new acquisition by Jacob van Ruisdael, which is considered by experts to be among the paramount Dutch landscapes in the world, will go on view Friday, May 16. Edge of a Forest with a Grainfield, c. 1656, is an exceptional work by Ruisdael, one of the supreme landscape painters of all time. It is impressively large and in near-perfect condition.
Seymour Slive, professor emeritus in the department of fine arts at Harvard University, former director of the Harvard University Art Museums and the leading authority on Ruisdael, called the painting "a world-class masterpiece" and one of "superior quality."
"This painting is unsurpassed among Dutch landscapes and is certainly one of Ruisdael's most important achievements," commented Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. "We are honored to have it at the Kimbell and to share it with our visitors."
Edge of a Forest with a Grainfield was donated by an alumnus to Oxford University's Worcester College in 1811. Except for its appearance in exhibitions, including the famous Manchester Art Treasures exhibition of 1857, the painting remained in the possession of Worcester College until its purchase by the Kimbell Art Foundation through a private treaty sale negotiated by Christie's, London, represented by Nicholas Hall.
Although the painting has been at the Museum since March, it was not put on view until the work could be reframed. An antique Dutch gilt frame, c. 1730, will enhance the painting as it hangs in the south gallery of the Museum's Louis Kahn Building. The frame is a fine example of the French Regence style and is typical of the luxurious but restrained frames placed on Ruisdael's paintings in the century after his death.
Admission to the permanent collection is always free.
For more information about the acquisition, CLICK HERE.
Kimbell Art Museum
The Kimbell Art Museum, owned and operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, is internationally renowned for both its collections and for its architecture. The Kimbell's collections range in period from antiquity to the 20th century and include European masterpieces by artists such as Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Poussin, Velázquez, Monet, Picasso and Matisse; important collections of Egyptian and classical antiquities; and Asian, Mesoamerican and African art.
The Museum's 1972 building, designed by the American architect Louis I. Kahn, is widely regarded as one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the modern era. A second building, designed by world-renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2013 and now provides space for special exhibitions, dedicated classrooms and a 298-seat auditorium with excellent acoustics for music.