arts

These Are the 100 Most Important Dutch and Flemish Works of Art

CODART, the international network of curators of Dutch and Flemish art, has announced the CODART Canon. The Canon consists of 100 Dutch and Flemish works of art dating from before 1750 that are of particular importance to the history of art. The list can be found on canon.codart.nl.

CODART members, informed by a public vote, made this list of 100 superb works of art that provides an overpowering overview of the work of the Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. Aesthetic highlights, crucial masterpieces, and striking outliers that are of great importance to art history. The result is a survey – but not, of course, a comprehensive survey. That would be impossible: too many beautiful artworks have been made to achieve that.

On the basis of two ballots (one held among CODART members followed by a second one among the general public), a special committee established the resulting canon. The list naturally includes big names such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Johannes Vermeer, Jan van Eyck and Jheronimus Bosch, but there are also many works of art by lesser-known artists such as Geertruydt Roghman, Johan Gregor van der Schardt, and Claes Sluter.

Although paintings outnumber other kinds of artworks, the list also includes a number of striking objects, such as a medieval chandelier from the Church of St. Walburga in Zutphen and bridal gloves dating from ca.1600–1625 from the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

Now that the masterpieces have been selected, CODART has set itself the task of informing the wider public about them. We need to explain why these 100 Dutch and Flemish works of art from before 1750 are considered to be particularly important. To start with, this information will be gathered and shared on CODART’s own online platform. Following on from that, there are plans to produce a book and to make short videos and podcasts about the CODART Canon.

Discover the CODART Canon on canon.codart.nl

• art
• canon
• Codart