Painting Family:
The De Brays, Master Painters of 17th Century
Holland
"This is a throroughly useful and enjoyable exhibition."
Brian Sewell, Evening Standard
+ read more
"Salomon emerges from this show as
a painter of great virtuosity, with a chameleon-like ability to
change style" The Sunday Telegraph
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Watch the
Director's Videos about this
exhibition |
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Exhibition Catalogue from the online Shop |
The De Bray family were one of the
dominant artistic dynasties of the 17th Century Dutch
Golden Age and the Painting Family
exhibition featured masterpieces by their assorted members.
A father of 10 children, Salomon de Bray was a
master of historical storytelling, as was his son Jan de Bray, a
genre which Jan combined with his talent as a gifted
portraitist.
Salomon's other sons, Dirck and
Joseph were still life painters; Dirck
painted dazzling flower pieces while Joseph could expertly render
the delicate oily textures of fish.
One of the highlights of this exhibition was Jan
De Bray's 'Banquet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra';
essentially a De Bray family portrait featuring his father and
mother as the famous lovers. This triumphant work was not a mere
one-off for Jan as he became the most important painter in
Haarlem in the second half of the 17th century.
This exhibition featured historic and mythological figures,
portraits, flower paintings and still lifes, examining a remarkable
but largely forgotten family whose place at the heart of the Dutch
Golden Age deserves to be reassessed.