Arthur Wheelock

The Frick’s Center for the History of Collecting and the Delegation of Flanders to the USA invite you to the Virtual Book Launch of America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Their Circles.

Thomas Leysen, collector of Flemish paintings, Antwerp, in conversation with Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Curator, Northern Baroque Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. This lecture is part of the symposium 'America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Their Circles' presented by the Center for the History of Collecting at The Frick Collection on Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, 2016.

Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Curator, Northern Baroque Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. presents his lecture, "Pleasure and Prestige: The Complex History of Collecting Flemish Art in America" on Friday, May 13, 2016. This lecture is part of the symposium 'America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Their Circles' presented by the Center for the History of Collecting at The Frick Collection on Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, 2016. 

At the end of the nineteenth century, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring sold for a pittance, an unknown work by an artist who was only beginning to achieve recognition. Today it is revered as a great masterpiece, so famous that it is recognizable by its title alone, with the name of its maker being almost superfluous. This lecture examines the reasons this image resonates so profoundly with contemporary audiences.