Review of the Research Institute for History and - Universiteit Utrecht

dienst and the Utrecht Art History Department. The study of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Dutch art
has a strong link with the Rijksmuseum, and a joint project is aimed at the production of a full scholarly catalogue
of the more than 2,000 seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in the Rijksmuseum collection; the fi rst
volume of this catalogue will be ready for publication according to plan, in 2005.
The Dutch Institute for Art History (Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Instituut, NIKI) in Florence is fi nanced
by Utrecht University, but used by all six Dutch universities offering Art History programmes. The NIKI,
with its very good facilities and own research staff, is of central importance to the Italian studies programme
of OSK. The director of NIKI, prof. Bert Meijer, is extra-ordinary professor in Utrecht. The NIKI’s main
long-term project is currently concerned with the publication of a repertory of Dutch and Flemish paintings
in Italian public collections. In 1998 the fi rst part appeared, on the paintings held in Liguria, followed by a
second part covering Lombardy in 2002.
A 3. Processes in research, internal and external collaboration
The Utrecht research projects in Art History are mainly oriented towards national collaboration and
exchange. Intellectual exchange is mainly organised by the three chairs. The historians of architecture, for
example, have regular lunch meetings for PhD-students and run a lecture programme in the Utrecht architectural
centre AORTA. Networks are likewise the primary responsibility of the other subgroups, and vary
according to their specifi c needs. All three, however, collaborate closely with the non-academic partners in
the OSK.
Thus, the Utrecht contribution in the biannual summer course for foreign PhD-students on seventeenth-century
Dutch art, organised by the Rijksmuseum and the RKD, has been substantial and signifi cant.
Several foreign PhD’s have come to Utrecht to fi nish their dissertation projects; Utrecht historians of architecture
collaborate very closely with their colleagues at the Catholic University at Louvain, most specifi cally
in the project Unity and diversity: architectural relationships between the Southern and Northern Netherlands
1530-1700, fi nanced jointly by NWO/FWO. This collaboration is now expanding to include colleagues at
the Sorbonne in Paris. Ottenheym and PhD-students E. Goossens and Elske Gerritsen collaborated closely
with Polish colleagues to prepare an exhibition on the Dutch-Polish architect Tilman van Gameren in the
Royal Palace in Amsterdam (2002).
A 4. Academic reputation
Utrecht has a strong and leading role in the national research school OSK. The publication of Simiolus:
Netherlands quarterly for the history of art, now in its 31st year and with the Utrecht Art History Department
as its editorial offi ce from its very beginnings, is an important asset for the group, as it provides an excellent
platform for Dutch and foreign scholars to publish their work on Dutch art. Hecht is executive aditor of the
journal. Members of the group have been visiting scholars at prestigious foreign institutions. Ottenheym
was visiting scholar at the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio in Vicenza (2004),
while dr Xander van Eck taught for a semester at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Others moved on
to prestigious posts abroad. Bart Cornelis, who was a PhD-student in Utrecht, became associate editor of The
Burlington Magazine, while dr Hugo van der Velden was appointed professor of Northern Renaissance Art at
Harvard University in 2003. Erik Hinterding was awarded the golden medal of Teyler’s Genootschap for his
dissertation on Rembrandt’s prints. Jonathan Bikker’s dissertation on Rembrandt’s pupil Willem Drost will be
A 5. External validation
Museums in the Netherlands and elsewhere frequently call on the expertise of the Utrecht group. Its
members have been involved in numerous exhibitions, including the Dutch Classicism-exhibition (Rotterdam
and Frankfurt), a large Rembrandt-exhibition (Australia), several modern art exhibitions (Tropenmuseum
Amsterdam, TENT Rotterdam), ‘Life after death’ (Catharijnenconvent, Utrecht), ‘Cartons van de
Goudse Glazen’ (Gouda), ‘Tilman van Gameren’ (Amsterdam), and several exhibitions on architecture (in the
Netherlands, Italy and the USA). These activities have provided a platform for researchers to share the results
of their work with a wider, non-academic audience. The Utrecht art historians are also regular contributors
to Kunstschrift, the Netherlands’ most signifi cant popular journal for art history.
165 Art History OGC
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