Exhibition Dates:

October 19, 2014 – January 4, 2015
Bill L. Harbert Gallery
Gallery C
Noel and Kathryn Dickinson Wadsworth Gallery

This fall, JCSM is pleased to present a spectacular exhibition of paintings by European master artists on loan from the renowned collection of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Featuring 69 works of art created during the 17th through early 19th centuries, Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough, and the Golden Age of Painting in Europe illustrates a period of great political, economic, scientific, and religious transformations that profoundly affected a continent. With paintings that range from towering formal portraiture to miniature objects of devotion, and elaborately staged interpretations of antiquity to humble still-life arrangements, the exhibition provides visitors a visual survey of the cultural issues that marked this important era, and offers a close look at the exceptional painterly skills by which artists set those subjects to canvas and wood panel.

In addition to the broadly famous Old Masters who constitute the exhibition’s title, other equally remarkable painters, though less well known, are represented in the collection with outstanding examples of their work. These include French artist Charles-Antoine Coypel’s tender depiction of The Education of the Virgin, Dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael’s romantic Landscape with a Half-Timbered House and a Blasted Tree, and a dramatic Saint Jerome by Flemish artist Hendrick van Somer. We invite you to take advantage of this special viewing opportunity during its brief, 11-week installation in Auburn before the collection moves on to the Huntsville Museum of Art, which partnered with JCSM in hosting these exceptional works in Alabama.

Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough, and the Golden Age of Painting in Europe has been organized by the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky.

The exhibition is generously underwritten in part by Mrs. Dorothy Davidson. A donation of $5 for admission to the exhibition is suggested.

Additional promotional support was provided in part by Alabama Travel, Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau, and Alabama Media Group.

JCSM seeks to add works by Old Masters to the permanent collection. Learn how you can help.

  • Jean Jacques François Lebarbier (French, 1738–1826) Helen and Paris, 1799 Oil on canvas 34 x 40 in. (86.4 x 101.6 cm.) 42 1/8 x 48 13/16 x 3 5/16 in. (107 x 124 x 8.4 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors 1998.21
  • Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628/1629–1682) Landscape with a Half-Timbered House and a Blasted Tree, 1653 Oil on canvas 26 5/8 x 32 3/8 x 7/8 in. (67.6 x 82.2 x 2.2 cm.) 36 1/4 x 42 1/8 x 4 in. (92.1 x 107 x 10.2 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Museum purchase 1998.3
  • Pieter Cornelisz. van Slingeland (Dutch, 1640–1691) The Interior of a Kitchen, about 1659 Oil on panel 17 5/16 x 14 9/16 in. 24 x 21 3/16 x 2 . in. (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors and Mrs. Blakemore Wheeler, Mr. and Mrs. Barry Bingham, Sr., Mrs. Hattie Bishop Speed, Mrs. E. Gary Sutcliffe, Mrs. Margaret Bridwell, Mrs. Oscar Fenley, and Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, by exchange 1992.23
  • Jacob van Walscapelle (Dutch, 1644–1727) Floral Still Life, 1681 Oil on canvas 40 1/4 x 35 3/16 in. (102.2 x 89.3 cm.) 49 x 43 13/16 x 2 1/8 in. (124.5 x 111.3 x 5.4 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of Eleanor Bingham Miller and Barry Bingham, Sr., in honor of Mary Caperton Bingham 1987.1
  • Cornelis de Man New Church in Delft with the Tomb of William the Silent Oil on canvas 49 x 42 1/6 in. 58 7/8 x 51 . x 2 5/16 in. (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors 1985.8
  • Antoine-Jean Gros (French, 1771–1835) Portrait of Celeste Coltellini, Madame Meuricoffre, about 1790s Oil on canvas 26 3/4 x 19 1/2 in. (67.9 x 49.5 cm.) 36 9/16 x 28 3/8 x 3 1/8 in. (92.9 x 72.1 x 7.9 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Berry V. Stoll 1983.10
  • Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (French, 1749–1803) Portrait of Madame Adélaïde, about 1787 Oil on canvas 107 3/4 x 73 3/4 in. (273.7 x 187.3 cm.) 136 1/2 x 88 3/8 x 5 in. (346.7 x 224.5 x 12.7 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Berry V. Stoll 1982.21
  • Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) Portrait of a Forty-Year-Old Woman, possibly Marretje Cornelisdr. van Grotewal, 1634 Oil on panel 27 7/16 x 22 in. (69.7 x 55.9 cm.) 37 11/16 x 32 1/8 x 3 in. (95.7 x 81.6 x 7.6 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Purchased with funds contributed by individuals, corporations and the entire community of Louisville, as well as the Commonwealth of Kentucky
  • Jan de Bray (Dutch, about 1627–1697) A Couple Represented as Ulysses and Penelope, 1668 Oil on canvas 43 7/8 x 65 3/4 in. (111.4 x 167 cm.) 55 5/16 x 76 13/16 x 4 1/2 in. (140.5 x 195.1 x 11.4 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors 1975.24
  • Paolo de’Matteis (Italian, 1662–1728) The Adoration of the Shepherds Oil on Canvas 60 x 50 in. 69 3/16 x 59 5/16 x 2 7/8 in. Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors 1971.42.1
  • Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640) The Princes of the Church Adoring the Eucharist, about 1626-1627 Oil on panel 26 1/4 x 18 5/16 in. (66.7 x 46.5 cm.) 36 3/4 x 29 x 3 1/8 in. (93.3 x 73.7 x 7.9 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift in memory of George W. Norton IV, by his mother, Mrs. George W. Norton, Jr. and his aunt, Mrs. Leonard T. Davidson 1966.16
  • Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769–1830) Portrait of Susan, Countess of Guilford, and Her Daughter Georgiana, about 1812 Oil on canvas 82 5/8 x 58 in. (209.9 x 147.3 cm.) 95 1/2 x 71 9/16 x 4 5/8 in. (242.6 x 181.8 x 11.7 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Purchase, Museum Art Fund 1959.2
  • Hendrick van Somer (Flemish, born about 1607, active Naples, 1624–1652) Saint Jerome, 1651 Oil on canvas 39 3/4 x 49 1/2 in. (101 x 125.7 cm.) 52 1/2 x 62 1/2 x 4 1/16 in. (133.4 x 158.8 x 10.3 cm.) (frame) Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Gift of the Charter Collectors with funds from the Bequest of Jane Morton Norton 1991.21
  • Dirk Valckenburg (Dutch, 1675–1721) A Cat Protecting Spoils from a Dog, 1717 Oil on canvas 39 7/8 x 31 . x 7/8 in. 49 1/8 x 40 7/8 x 1 7/8 in. Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds from the estate of Alice Speed Stoll and anonymous donors 2005.18