Don't miss the first exhibition to explore the influence of Dutch art and culture on American artists at the turn of the 20th century

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Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914, opening February 5 at the Taft, is the first major exhibition to explore the little-known but fascinating phenomenon of American artists settling or working in the Netherlands at the turn of the last century. Organized by the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia, this exhibition looks at a rarely studied part of art history and rediscovers a number of artists.

"I am thrilled the Taft will be the second stop for this landmark exhibition," says Deborah Emont Scott, director/CEO of the Museum. "Many of the painters in Dutch Utopia were influenced by artists represented in the Taft's collections, including Rembrandt and Hals from the 17th century and the Hague School artists from the 19th century."

The tulips, windmills, peasant costumes and canals so characteristic of Holland were powerfully captured by a group of American artists who frequented or settled in the Netherlands in the decades around 1900. The artists included in Dutch Utopia painted visions of Holland that alluded to the United States' colonial Dutch heritage and displayed nostalgia for that supposedly more simple time.

"American artists made pilgrimages to Holland to rediscover in person the native soil of these painters," says Lynne Ambrosini, the Taft's chief curator. "In the process they created their own luminous views of cloud-filled Dutch landscapes, intimate family interior, lace-capped Dutch maidens and blustery seascapes."

The paintings for this exhibition were selected from private collections in America and Europe and a number of museums around the world, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Tate Gallery, London.

"Americans of this period revered 17th-century Dutch painters," says Ambrosini. "I had not previously realized how many well-known American artists participated in the vogue for Holland-William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, John Singer Sargent, John Twachtman, and-of particular interest to Cincinnatians-Elizabeth Nourse."

Also, during Dutch Utopia, the Taft's Keystone Gallery will be home to the exhibition Elizabeth Nourse: Motherhood in Holland and France. This small selection of works from local private collections highlights her interest in depicting mothers and children.

Programs & Events

Youth Studio: Blue Trees, White Sky
Saturday, February 6, 1-3 p.m.
Youth ages 12-16 use blue enamel on white tiles to create a work of art inspired by Delftware.
Supplies included. $20 members, $25 non-members. RSVP: (513) 684-4524.

Gallery Talk by Lynne Ambrosini, Chief Curator
Sunday, February 14, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, March 5, 1:30 p.m.
Free with admission. RSVP: (513) 684-4515.

Families Create! Shades of Blue
Saturday, March 13, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Children ages 5-12 with adults create a design modeled on Delft tiles. $8 members, $12 nonmembers. RSVP: (513) 684-4524.

Adult Studio: Got the Delft Blues
Sunday, March 14, 1-4 p.m.
Use blue enamel and white tile to create a work of art inspired by Delftware. Supplies included. $35 members, $40 nonmembers. RSVP: (513) 684-4524.

Lecture: Elizabeth Nourse in France by Sandra Geiser, Curator,
Elizabeth Nourse Collection, Mercantile Library
Thursday, March 18, 7 p.m.
Free for members and students. $10 for the public. RSVP: (513) 684-4515.

Taft with a Twist: Dutch Treats
Thursday, March 25, 6-9 p.m.
Sample chocolates and explore Dutch art in the collection. Free for members, $10 nonmembers. RSVP (513) 684-4526.

Gallery Talk by Nancy Huth, Curator of Education
Friday, March 26, 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 28, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 17, 1:30 p.m.
Free with admission. RSVP: (513) 684-4515.

Lecture: Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914 by Holly McCullough, Chief Curator and Exhibition Organizing Curator, Telfair Museum of Art
Thursday, April 22, 7 p.m.
Free for members and students. $10 for the public. RSVP: (513) 684-4515.

Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914 is organized by the Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, in association with the Singer Laren Museum, the Netherlands. This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Henry Luce Foundation, with major additional support provided by the Telfair Academy Guild and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Local support for Dutch Utopia has been provided by Western & Southern Financial Fund, in memory of William J. Williams, a long-time supporter of Cincinnati's charitable and civic organizations; A Friend of the Taft Museum of Art; Lynne Meyers Gordon; Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation; The Sutphin Family Foundation; The John A. Schroth Family Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee; and Ellen and George Rieveschl Endowment. Operating Support from Fine Arts Fund and Ohio Arts Council, with Fine Arts Fund Partner P&G.

The Taft Museum of Art has received arts employment support from the Ohio Arts Council made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts through funds allocated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.