Past Exhibition

Gerard ter Borch

A man bows to a woman as another man looks on from the shadowy background, while a woman sitting at a table plays a lute in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. The bowing man enters from an open door to our left. He faces our right in profile and has a bumped nose, a dark mustache, and his brown hair falls loosely over his shoulders. He wears a voluminous, black jacket that has a wide white collar and flat, plate-like, starched white cuffs. He bends forward with one foot stretched in front of him, as he gazes at the woman to our right. His hands are spread wide. His left forefinger and thumb touch to make an O shape, and he holds a wide-brimmed, black hat in his right hand, closer to us. At the center of the composition, the woman wears a dress with a coral-pink bodice and a cream-white satin skirt trimmed with gold down the front and around the hem. She faces our left in profile and looks at the man, her cheeks flushed. Her eyebrows are slightly raised over dark eyes, and she has a straight nose and the hint of a double chin. Her blond hair is pulled back under a lace covering, and curls frame her face. A black ribbon is tied into a bow at the shoulder closer to us. A brown and white dog, about knee-high, stands between the man and woman. To our right, a young woman sits at the far side of a table playing a lute. She wears a sapphire-blue dress and looks down at her instrument. One elbow is propped on the patterned rug that covers the table. A second instrument, perhaps a cello, lies on the table, and a wooden chair with a pine-green upholstered seat has been pulled up to our side of the table. Almost lost in the shadows at the back of the room between the two women, a man with a goatee and wearing a brown jacket and trousers stands with his body angled to our right as he looks over his shoulder at the couple at the door. He stands in front of a fireplace with an opening so large that the mantle is supported by columns as tall as the man.
Gerard ter Borch the Younger, The Suitor's Visit, c. 1658, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.58

Details

  • Dates

    -
  • Locations

    West Building, Main Floor Galleries 74, 75, 76
A man bows to a woman as another man looks on from the shadowy background, while a woman sitting at a table plays a lute in this vertical painting. All the people have pale skin. The bowing man enters from an open door to our left. He faces our right in profile and has a bumped nose, a dark mustache, and his brown hair falls loosely over his shoulders. He wears a voluminous, black jacket that has a wide white collar and flat, plate-like, starched white cuffs. He bends forward with one foot stretched in front of him, as he gazes at the woman to our right. His hands are spread wide. His left forefinger and thumb touch to make an O shape, and he holds a wide-brimmed, black hat in his right hand, closer to us. At the center of the composition, the woman wears a dress with a coral-pink bodice and a cream-white satin skirt trimmed with gold down the front and around the hem. She faces our left in profile and looks at the man, her cheeks flushed. Her eyebrows are slightly raised over dark eyes, and she has a straight nose and the hint of a double chin. Her blond hair is pulled back under a lace covering, and curls frame her face. A black ribbon is tied into a bow at the shoulder closer to us. A brown and white dog, about knee-high, stands between the man and woman. To our right, a young woman sits at the far side of a table playing a lute. She wears a sapphire-blue dress and looks down at her instrument. One elbow is propped on the patterned rug that covers the table. A second instrument, perhaps a cello, lies on the table, and a wooden chair with a pine-green upholstered seat has been pulled up to our side of the table. Almost lost in the shadows at the back of the room between the two women, a man with a goatee and wearing a brown jacket and trousers stands with his body angled to our right as he looks over his shoulder at the couple at the door. He stands in front of a fireplace with an opening so large that the mantle is supported by columns as tall as the man.
Gerard ter Borch the Younger, The Suitor's Visit, c. 1658, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.58

Overview: 56 paintings by Dutch 17th-century artist Gerard ter Borch were displayed in this exhibition, the first devoted to the artist in the United States. Drawn from over 28 public and private collections, the exhibition included ter Borch’s well-known images of ladies in satin, as well as portraits, depictions of notable events, and scenes of everyday life. In addition to the two exhibition venues, a small selection of paintings was shown at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, from June 9 through September 4, 2005.

A public symposium titled Gerard ter Borch: Contemplating the Interior was held on November 7. The exhibition inspired a 4-part festival, Evenings with ter Borch, held from November 13 through 16. The evenings featured music by 17th-century Dutch and Flemish composers and gallery talks.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the American Federation of Arts, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., curator of northern baroque painting at the National Gallery, was the curator.

Sponsor: Support was provided by the National Patrons of the AFA. The catalogue was made possible in part by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The exhibition was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Teaching Packet: Gerard ter Borch: A Resource for Educators, by Nelly Silagy Benedek et al. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; New York: American Federation of Arts, 2004.

Attendance: 74,753

Catalog: Gerard ter Borch, by Arthur K. Wheelock. Jr. et al. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art; New York: American Federation of Arts; in association with Yale University Press, 2004.

Brochure: Gerard ter Borch, by Adriaan Waiboer. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2004.

Other Venues: The Detroit Institute of Arts, February 27–March 22, 2005