The golden age of Dutch painting, Liberec Regional Gallery

The core of the collection consists of Dutch paintings of the 17th century. The visitor can admire the breadth of interests of Dutch painters, their attention to detail, the sense of everyday poetry, technical and technological skills. Behind the works is a statement about the power of the then growing democracy, but also the revelation of some of its other side.

The Liberec collection of the so-called “little masters” (unlike the “big” masters, such as Rembrandt van Rijn or Jan Vermeer) was not established until the 1960s thanks to the then director, Dr. Hana Seifertová. The exception is the rare still life of Jan Davidsz. de Heem from the legacy of the great industrialist Heinrich Liebieg. Several paintings have also been purchased in the last fifteen years thanks to funds from special funds of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

From the point of view of the representation of art centers, there are examples of visual production of Flemish and Dutch cities such as Amsterdam, Antwerp, Haarlem, Leiden and others.

In terms of thematic stratification we find here a portrait (Jakob Adriaensz. Backer), biblical (Vincent Sellaer) and mythological themes, motifs from Roman history (Frans van Mieris), scenes from everyday people of different social status (Jan Baptist Weenix), several types of landscape painting, such as the vedute of Paris (Cornelis Beelt), the seascape (Wouter Knijff) and the ideal landscape of sunny Italian Campagne. Inseparable parts of the collection are several types of still life, such as hunting (Jan Fyt), floral (Elias van den Broeck) or still life depicting the diversity of materials (Jan Jansz. Van de Velde).

Oblastní galerie Liberec
The Liberec Regional Gallery is a specialized collecting institution – art museum – operating in the Liberec region. It takes care of extensive art collections and offers visitors a tour of three permanent exhibitions of European and Czech art.

The gallery regularly prepares short-term exhibitions and exhibitions in the graphic cabinet. The gallery’s instructor department provides accompanying programs for exhibitions and a cultural program for schools and the public throughout the year.

The gallery is open daily except Mondays from 10 am to 5 pm on Thursdays to 7 pm. Free admission every Thursday.