Author Description

This catalogue of the exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of the great Flemish artist. The Hermitage collection owns thirty-three paintings of his heyday. The works reproduced include a number of genuine masterpieces (Guardroom, Monkeys in the Kitchen, Village Fête), which demonstrate the main genres of his oeuvre and the salient features of his style. In her richly-illustrated introduction the author recounts the history of the Hermitage colelction, traces the artist's creative development, and comments on individual paintings. Catalogue entries include data on each painting, lists of exhibitions, and referenes to earlier catalogs and other relevant literature. -- Summary written by John W. Emerich, Bronze Horseman Literary Agency.