Situated in the hub of Cape Town on Greenmarket
Square, this collection is housed in the former City Hall (the Old
Town House) built in 1755 in Cape Rococo style. Donated by Sir Max
Michaelis in 1914, it consists of a world-renowned selection of Nederlandish
art from the seventeenth-century Golden Age. There are works by Frans
Hals, Jan Steen, Jacob Ruisdal, Anthony van Dyck and numerous others.
The role played by building and collection in the cultural life of
the Mother City is enhanced by its prominent position right in its
historical centre on Greenmarket Square. But this role also continues
after-hours, as the popular venue for chamber-music concerts and lectures
on a variety of cultural topics, meetings by cultural organisations
and receptions in the Van Dyck and Frans Hals Rooms or in the intimate
courtyard behind the building. And in addition to the permanent collections,
there is a consistent flow of special, temporary exhibitions widening
the scope of the Museum to cater for the cultural interests of all
Capetonians and tourists alike. Thus, the Michaelis Collection in
the Old Town House has become a place to which to return from time
to time.Dutch Treat: Dutch works from the 17th–20th centuries in Iziko
collections
In this exhibition, highlights of Dutch art from the Iziko Michaelis
Collection and many seldom-seen Dutch works in the Iziko South African
National Gallery collections provide a setting and a context for
Andrew Putter’s installation piece entitled Secretly I will love you
more (2007), which was recently acquired for the Iziko Art
Collections. The example of a contemporary South African artist using
the Iziko Michaelis Collection as a base for a work of art that has
cutting-edge relevance for the present indicates the valuable role our
Dutch Old Master collections can play in the building of a new
heritage.
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