Major Exhibitions of 17-Century Masters

Two major exhibitions of the works of great 17th-Century painters--Diego Velazquez and Frans Hals--have opened in New York and Washington.

“Velazquez,” an unprecedented exhibition of more than 35 paintings by the great Spanish painter, is on view at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art until Jan. 7; and “Frans Hals,” the first major exhibition of paintings by the great portrait painter to be held outside of the Netherlands, is at Washington’s National Gallery of Art until Dec. 31.

For the Velazquez exhibition, the Museo del Prado in Madrid is lending 17 major paintings--the first time the museum has done so for an exhibition outside Spain. Also included in the exhibition are paintings from museums in England, Scotland, Austria and the United States.

Said Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum: “The very notion of a Velazquez exhibition is one that most of us have always dismissed as belonging to the realm of unrealizable dreams, so great and rare a painter is he. At least half of his paintings are in the Prado, and in the few other collections where they appear, they are so highly valued that their loan is seldom seriously envisaged.”

As Velazquez painted about 90 pictures in his 40-year career, the exhibition will include close to half of his works. On view will be major examples of his genre, religious and mythological scenes; examples of his court jester series, and his portraits of the royal court and court officials. Included are five portraits of Philip IV, along with portraits of Queen Mariana of Austria, Prince Baltasar Carlos and infants Maria Teresa and Margarita.

The Hals exhibition also contains works from many great international museums. The traveling show is organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in association with the National Gallery and the Netherlands’ Halsmuseum, Haarlem. The National Gallery is the exhibition’s first venue, and the only one in the United States.

Included are more than 60 paintings and small oil sketches drawn from all phases of Hals’ remarkable career. Examples of all facets of his work will be shown, including his earliest known painting, a portrait of “Jacobius Zaffius” (1611), genre scenes (including “Merry Drinker”), family portraits, and his remarkable regent portraits, such as portraits of the regents of the Old Men’s Alms House in Haarlem.

“This is the most significant exhibition of Hals’ work ever shown in the United States,” said J. Carter Brown, director of the National Gallery of Art. “It will offer visitors the opportunity to see the full range of his genius, including the development of the bold and innovative techniques for which he is so well-known.”

AUCTION: More than 150 contemporary and vintage photographs go on the blocks Tuesday at the Fourth Annual Photography Auction, a benefit for the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies.

Photographers whose works will be in the 7:30 p.m. auction at Butterfield & Butterfield Auctioneers, 7601 Sunset Blvd., include JoAnn Callis, David Levinthal, Richard Misrach, Morley Baer, Joel Sternfeld and Garry Winogrand. The photographs will be previewed at the auction house Sunday from noon-5 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies is a nonprofit group that presents exhibitions, lectures and workshops on contemporary and historical photographic issues.

Entrance to the auction is free. Call (213) 482-3566 for more information.