Dirk Valkenburg & Willem de Rooij at the Centraal Museum Utrecht
September 19 2025
Picture: Centraal Museum Utretcht
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Centraal Museum in Utretcht opened a new exhibition last weekend focusing a special display of 30 works by Dirck Valkenburg (1675-1721) curated by contemporary artist Willem de Rooij.
According to the museum's website:
Valkenburg (1675-1721) was one of the first Europeans to depict Indigenous and enslaved people on Surinamese plantations, while also painting hunting still lifes and portraits of Dutch elites. The breadth of his oeuvre makes it particularly relevant for research into colonial image production and the “white gaze”. In this installation, De Rooij displays 30 works in idiosyncratic combinations, inviting reflection on how these 18th-century Dutch elites used art to support and legitimise colonial ideology.
Another exciting detail regarding the catalogue:
The exhibition will be accompanied by the first comprehensive publication on Dirk Valkenburg's oeuvre: a catalogue raisonné developed in collaboration with the RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History. [...]
The show will run until 25th January 2026.
