Field Trip: The Golden Age of Painting in Europe

View from above of the main floor of the exhibition

Earlier today, students in Modern Art and two special guest stars went to the University of Kentucky Art Museum to visit the exhibition "The Golden Age of Painting in Europe," a travelling show that was originally titled Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough, and the Golden Age of Painting in Europe from the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY. Each student selected a painting or two to present to the rest of the class (and a few other people in the museum, as well). Such close examination of single works enabled students to focus their study and to learn much more about brushwork and technique, as well as content and subject.


The show is organized thematically and focuses on the years c. 1600-1800, a time when the number of artists and the number of art collectors grew at a rapid pace and in vast numbers during this period. As a result, wider accessibility brought broader audiences for painting.

Jesse taking in Panini's The Sermon of an Apostle, c. 1758

MV closely viewing Jacob van Walscapelle's Floral Still Life, 1681 

Joey studying Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart's Adam Naming the
Animals, an interpretation of interpretation of Genesis 2:19-20:
“Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air,
and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them....”

Caity and Kimberly observe Werner Jacobsz. van den Valckert's
Portrait of a Man with a Lay Figure, 1624 

Rebecca telling us about Adelaide Labille-Guiard's
Portrait of Madame Adelaide,  1787. She was the daughter of
King Louis XV and the aunt of King Louis XVI. 

Close examination of Rembrandt's Portrait of a 40-year old woman
oil on panel, 1634

The work of such Old Masters, their descendants, and other academic artists stands in sharp contrast to the avant-garde artists with whom we tend to associate modernism. Looking at these works first hand gave us great appreciation for the art that followed, and, too, the notion of breaking the rules.

Following UK's installation, which comes down later this week, the show travels to the Orlando Museum of Art (January—June 2014) and then to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute for the summer 2014.