European Art

Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin’s The Game of Knucklebones (c. 1734).

Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin. The Game of Knucklebones. c. 1734. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Mary Frick Jacobs Collection. BMA 1938.193

The BMA's magnificent collection of 15th- through 19th-century European art includes masterworks of northern European and French art, and Medieval and Renaissance works. Among the many treasures in the European art collection is the unparalleled Rinaldo and Armida (1629) by Sir Anthony van Dyck. Commissioned by King Charles I of England, it is considered one of the world’s finest paintings by the artist.

Much of this European art collection was formed by generous Baltimoreans, notably Mary Frick Jacobs, George A. Lucas, and Jacob Epstein. A collection of 19th-century French art includes a large cast of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker (1904-17 cast, after 1880 original), more than 140 bronzes by Antoine-Louis Barye, and paintings by Barbizon artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Charles-François Daubigny.

Highlights

  • Frans Hals’ portrait Dorothea Berck (1644)
  • Rembrandt van Rijn’s painting of his son Titus, the Artist's Son (1660)
  • Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin’s The Game of Knucklebones (c. 1734)
  • Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s Princess Anna Alexandrovna Galitzin (c. 1797)
  • Titian’s Portrait of a Gentleman (1561)
  • a 14th-century Burgundian Virgin and Child carved of limestone

William Woodward Collection of English Sporting Art

Considered one of the finest collections of British sporting art in America, the BMA’s Woodward Collection features 52 paintings of horses and racing scenes, as well as silver and gold racing trophies. The highlight is a group of 11 portraits of 19th-century winners of Britain’s Doncaster St. Leger by John Herring, Sr., and Eclipse with Mr. Wildman and his Sons (c. 1769-71) by George Stubbs.

For more than 40 years, William Woodward owned one of the nation's most successful breeding and racing stables, which were located in Maryland. A portion of his collection was given to the BMA by his widow in 1953, along with the funds to build a wing to house the gift.

On View

Installed in opulent galleries designed by neoclassical architect John Russell Pope, these works are accompanied by a fine selection of decorative arts, including jeweled snuffboxes, porcelain, and silver. Several galleries feature intimate focus exhibitions showcasing the BMA’s exceptional collection of works on paper from the 15th through the 19th century.

The Woodward Room was designed by Wrenn, Lewis, and Jencks of Baltimore and decorated by Billy Baldwin and his partner Edward Thartin Jr., known for their work on The White House for Jacqueline Kennedy. Additionally, the Woodlawn Vase, designed by Tiffany and Company in 1860, is on view except in May each year when it is presented to the winner of the annual Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, the second jewel in thoroughbred racing's prestigious Triple Crown.

Extended Collection Resources

Explore the BMA’s renowned European art collection by clicking on one of the links below. Learn the fascinating histories behind the works and the artists who created them.

Dorothea Berck, Wife of Joseph Coymans, Frans Hals
Emilia Pia da Montefeltro, Raphael [Raffaello Santi]
Entry into the Ark, Jacopo Bassano
In Praise of the Prince of Fenyang, Guo Ziyi and A Tableful of Honors
Kitchen Interior in a Ruined Palace, Hubert Robert
Melencholia I, Albrecht Dürer
Princess Anna Alexandrovna Galitzin, Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun
Rinaldo and Armida, Anthony van Dyck
The Game of Knucklebones, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
Venus and Adonis, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem
View of Rhenen, Jan van Goyen

Contact

To connect with the Department of European Painting & Sculpture, please email Laura Albans, Curatorial Assistant, at european@artbma.org.

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