Outline of the Exhibition

　This exhibition titled “The Connoisseur's Eye - Master Drawings and Prints from the Amsterdams Historisch Museum”, traces the development of the art of European drawings since the Renaissance, and the aspect of drawings as collectors items, from the major works of the drawing collection of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum.
　“Drawings” in European art have been considered the basis of all plastic arts. Drawing is the technique where an artist reproduces nature, and at the same time, it is the expression of the artist’s originality that shows the basic ability of conception to create a work of art.
In the Netherlands, the drawings since the 17th century were used not only as preparation drawings for a finished piece, but also as models depicting various motifs used while creating, and also as educational samples for training pupils. These types of drawings were not only used by artists and studios, but were also gathered by collectors such as paintings were.
In this exhibition, we are focusing on the Dutch drawings of the 17th to 19th century, including works by Rubens and Rembrandt, from the drawing collection of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum. These rarely exhibited superior works provide an outline of the Dutch drawings, and show not only how artists of this era created and used drawings, but how popular they were as independent art works.
We would like to express our deep gratitude towards Director Pauline Kruseman of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum for permission to exhibit these precious works, and also Mr. Norbert Middelkoop(Curator of Painting, Drawings and Prints) and the staff of the same museum, who made great efforts in the preparation of this exhibition. We also deeply thank all of those who extended their support and cooperation in creating this exhibition.

Prologue: Drawings Collection in Europe

Chapter 1: Italian and German old master drawings and prints

Chapter 2: Beginning of the Golden Age. Early 17th century Flemish and Dutch drawings

Chapter 3: The Golden Age of the Dutch drawings

Chapter 4: The reception of Rembrandt's etchings and his image

Chapter 5: Looking back to the Golden Age: 18-19th century Dutch drawings and the drawing collections

Epilogue: Dutch watercolours in the Geidai Collection

Geidai Collection Special: depiction of Japanese landscape in the 19th century