The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Mauritshuis in The Hague are simultaneously exchanging twenty-five outstanding works from their permanent collections thanks to a collaboration agreement between the two institutions. In Madrid, an exceptional collection of 17th-century Dutch masterpieces is on display, including Johannes Vermeer's View of Delft (ca. 1660-1661), brought together in the classical rooms, a new exhibition space in the museum, close to the rooms dedicated to this same school, thus offering a more complete view of that extraordinary and fruitful century.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza family's ties to the Netherlands date back to the early 20th century, when Heinrich (1875–1947) settled in The Hague after the Hungarian Revolution of 1919. It was in this city that Hans Heinrich was born and spent his childhood. In addition to the financial ties and business platform created there, he developed a passion for Dutch painting, one of the most brilliant chapters in his collecting career, which was started by Heinrich and continued by his son Hans Heinrich, who focused his early acquisitions in the 1950s on the Dutch masters of the 17th century. It was precisely Rotterdam that was chosen in 1959 as the city to launch the international tour to present his collection, and today the collection of 17th-century Dutch paintings is one of the museum's greatest assets, completing the Spanish museum scene in an extraordinary way.

The works from the Mauritshuis that form part of the exhibition in Madrid cover a period from around 1615 to 1705, and belong to artists such as Ambrosius Bosschaert I, Frans Hals, Hendrick Avercamp, Pieter Claesz, Rembrandt van Rijn, Gerard ter Borch, Jan Steen, Jacob Ruisdael, Pieter de Hooch and Nicolaes Maes, among others. The paintings are displayed thematically: the first room is dedicated to still lifes and genre painting; the second to landscapes and compositions with figures; and the third displays, on its own, one of the greatest landscape works of all time: Vermeer's View of Delft.

In addition, three paintings from the museum's collections have been selected to be exhibited alongside three others from the Mauritshuis. The Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel the Elder is displayed alongside The Garden of Paradise by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Rubens; The happy Violinist is paired with The Violinist, both by Gerard van Honthorst, and The West Façade of the Church of Saint Mary in Utrecht by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam complements the exterior view of the church depicted in the panel by the same artist belonging to the Mauritshuis.

Organised by: Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza & Mauritshuis.

IMAGES

Hendrick Avercamp
Ice Scene, ca. 1610
Oil on canvas, 36 × 71 cm. The Hague, Maurithuis

Rembrandt van Rijn
‘Tronie’ of a Man with a Feathered Beret, ca. 1635-1640
Oil on canvas. 62.5 × 47 cm. The Hague, Maurithuis

Johannes Vermeer
View of Delft, ca. 1660-1661
Oil on canvas, 96.5 × 115.7 cm. The Hague, Maurithuis