The Princely Collections, Liechtenstein: Five Centuries of European Painting and Sculpture

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1967.6.1.a

Established in the mid-16th century and built over successive generations, the Princely Collections, Liechtenstein is one of the most storied private art collections in Europe. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the princely family made the decision to sell a number of their most important paintings and sculptures, which soon found homes in museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the National Gallery of Canada. Highlights of the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, that were once part of the Princely Collections include Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci (c. 1474/1478), Peter Paul Rubens’s Agrippina and Germanicus (c. 1614), and Orazio Gentileschi’s The Lute Player (c. 1612/1620).

Treasures Past and Present: The Princely Collections, Liechtenstein presents nearly 100 works from the princely family’s historic and current collections. The exhibition marks the first time that these works have been reunited and features examples by some 60 artists such as Antico, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Sandro Botticelli, Canaletto, Jean Siméon Chardin, Sir Anthony van Dyck, Fra Filipo and Filippino Lippi, Rembrandt van Rijn, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and Sir Peter Paul Rubens. The exhibition also provides a rare look at some of the nearly 1,000 works acquired by the reigning Prince Hans-Adam II over the past three decades.

The exhibition is curated by Johann Kräftner, director of the Princely Collections; with Alexandra Libby, assistant curator of Northern Baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington; and Anabelle Kienle Poňka, acting senior curator of European and American art at the National Gallery of Canada. The organizing curator for the American Federation of Arts is Suzanne Ramljak.

Organization: Organized by the Princely Collections, Liechtenstein, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the American Federation of Arts.

Passes: Admission is always free and passes are not required

Other venues: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, June 5–September 7, 2020
Seattle Museum of Art, October 15, 2020–January 10, 2021
Kimbell Museum of Art, Fort Worth, February 14–May 16, 2021

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