HAA 1307 17th Century Dutch Art

Entrepôt: a warehouse where goods are stored; a site of encounter and exchange. This course examines how Dutch art in the seventeenth century responded to political and economic changes that made the Netherlands a hub in a new global network. Topics to be considered will include: how a changing market made art available to new audiences, the development and popularity of new types of art, how still life paintings chronicle expanding trade routes and changing material culture, how art was involved in a long pan-European war of religious and political independence, the booming print culture that allowed for the circulation of ideas and images, and Dutch colonial attitudes reflected in history paintings. The impact of this culture of exchange will be examined through the engagement of landscapes and cityscapes in changing ideas about Dutch identity, and how the newly wealthy merchant class negotiated their new status through portraiture. This course will examine the art of well-known masters such as Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer, but will also cover a broad group of painters, printmakers, and architects who were all involved in the rich visual culture of the Dutch Golden Age.