Ten paintings from the Frick Collection, including a Rembrandt Self-portrait and a Vermeer, are on show in a special exhibition in the Mauritshuis in The Hague end 2022 — buy time-slot reservation tickets online in advance.
From 29 September 2022 to 15 January 2023, ten paintings from the New York Frick Collection are on display in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands, in the Manhattan Masters special exhibition. Arguably Rembrandt’s finest self-portrait painting is the highlight of this exhibition that also includes Vermeer’s Officer and Laughing Girl and works by amongst others Frans Hals, Aelbert Cuyp, Meindert Hobbema, and Jacob van Ruisdaal. Time-slot reservation tickets are essential to visit the Mauritshuis and the Manhattan Masters special exhibitions. Buy tickets online — a single ticket covers both permanent collection and special exhibitions.
Manhattan Masters Paintings exhibition in the Mauritshuis
The Mauritshuis in The Hague has one of the finest collections of Dutch Old Masters paintings in the world. This small museum rounds off its bicentenary year with a very special “Manhattan Masters” exhibition featuring ten paintings by Dutch masters owned by The Frick Collection in New York.
From 29 September 2022 to 15 January 2023, ten paintings from the New York Frick Collection are on display in the Mauritshuis. Nine of these paintings have never crossed the Atlantic since being acquired by American industrialist, financier, and art patron Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919).
As when the Mauritshuis loaned Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Carel Fabritius’ The Goldfinch to the Frick Collection in 2013, this special exhibition is only possible due to the home museum being renovated.
See the Frick Collection’s Rembrandt Self-Portrait in the Mauritshuis
The absolute highlight of the special exhibition is Rembrandt’s 1658 Self-portrait. It is the largest painting in the Manhattan Masters exhibition at 134 x 104 cm. More significantly, it is frequently considered the most impressive of the 40-plus self-portraits Rembrandt painted during his career.
Rembrandt painted this self-portrait when he was 52, at a time when he was experiencing many setbacks, having been declared bankrupt two years earlier and forced to sell his own collection and the contents of his home, and then to move house. The master depicted himself in old-fashioned, 16th-century attire, to which some oriental motifs have been added. Rembrandt thus presents himself as a celebrated painter of the past. There is no painter’s cap or palette, but the lustrous gold fabric of his robe was no coincidental choice. Rembrandt will undoubtedly have read in Karel van Mander’s famous Schilder-Boeck (‘The Book of Painters’) of 1604 how famous 16th-century painters like Jan Gossaert and Lucas van Leyden dressed in gold robes as a sign of their high status.
Former director of the Mauritshuis Abraham Bredius (dir. 1889-1909), a leading Rembrandt expert, wrote of the painting in 1913, ‘The crowning glory of all that we saw was The Frick Collection. What a joy it was to see again Lord Ilchester’s Rembrandt Self-portrait, the self-portrait of the master, that almost more-than-life-sized portrait of the painter, seated, his right hand resting on a stick, regarding us with an expression denoting a truly deserved sense of self-worth, such as to make one fall silent; “every inch a king”, I once wrote of it.’
The permanent collection of the Mauritshuis includes around 20 Rembrandts (some are disputed) including a very late self-portrait but the most famous work is probably The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp — a breakthrough work by a young Rembrandt.
Frick Collection’s Vermeer in the Mauritshuis in 2022
Of the other nine paintings on loan from the Frick Collection, the most famous is probably Johannes Vermeer’s Officer and Laughing Girl, ca. 1657. It is a typical Vermeer composition with a female main character lit through an open window on the left. The background has a large map while in the foreground an elaborately dressed cavalier sits at the table.
Only around three dozen paintings are currently attributed to Vermeer — the Mauritshuis owns three including the very famous Girl with a Pearl Earring. The Rijksmuseum which owns four is planning the largest Vermeer exhibition ever with paintings from all over the world being on display in Amsterdam from 10 February to 4 June 2023. Tickets are already on sale although the final list of works on display has not been confirmed yet — in 1996, the Mauritshuis exhibited 22 Vermeers and the 2023 exhibition aims for a larger number.
Frick Collection Paintings at the Mauritshuis in 2022
The ten paintings from the Frick Collection on display in the Manhattan Masters special exhibition in the Mauritshuis in Den Haag from 29 September 2022 to 15 January 2023 are:
- Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) — Cows and Herdsman by a River / Rivierlandschap met herder en koeien, c.1650-1660
- Frans Hals (1582/83-1666) — Portrait of a Man / Portret van een man, c.1660
- Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) — Village with Water Mill Among Trees / Landschap met watermolen, c.1665
- Isack van Ostade (1621-1649) — Travelers Halting at an Inn / Reizigers bij een herberg, c.1640-1645
- Carel van der Pluym (1625-1672) — Old Woman with a Book / Oude vrouw met bijbel, c.1655-1660
- Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) — Self-Portrait / Zelfportret, 1658
- Follower of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) — Portait of a Young Artist / Portret van een jonge kunstenaar, c.1650-1660
- Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682) — Landscape with a Footbridge / Landschap met een voetbrug, 1652
- Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) — Officer and Laughing Girl / De soldaat en het lachende meisje, c.1657
- Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668) — The Cavalry Camp / Kamp met militairen, c.1660-1665
The permanent collection of the Mauritshuis is of course very much worth seeing too. The museum is pleasantly small and making it easy to enjoy the top-quality works on display.
Mauritshuis in The Hague Visitor’s Information
Mauritshuis Opening Hours
The Mauritshuis is open daily:
- 13:00 – 18:00 on Monday (if not a holiday)
- 10:00 – 18:00 on Tuesday to Sunday
The Galerij Prins Willem V is open from 12:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday and closed all day on Mondays.
The best times to visit the Mauritshuis are generally weekdays after 15:00, or right at opening time. (Sunny days in spring are also a good option but are harder to arrange.)
Avoid where possible visiting on weekends and during vacation periods.
Buy Online Tickets for the Mauritshuis
Tickets for the Mauritshuis are €17.50 for both the permanent and special exhibition and include admission to the Galerij Prins Willem V on the same day. The Galerij may also be seen separately for €5.50. Admission is free for those under 18 and Museumkaart holders.
Timeslot reservations are currently essential to visit the Mauritshuis. Buy skip-the-line tickets online to ensure priority admission — left-over tickets are still sold at the museum. Get Your Guide often has better cancelation policies, better availability, and may still sell tickets for visits on the day of purchase. The price for all options should be the same.
Combination tickets sometimes give small discounts, eg with the Escher in the Palace Museum or the Kunstmuseum Den Haag (the largest collection of Mondrians in the world)
Download the Mauritshuis app with an excellent free audio guide in advance — it is available for all, no museum visit (or ticket!) is required.
Transportation to the Mauritshuis in The Hague
The Mauritshuis is at Plein 29, 2511 CS Den Haag in the heart of The Hague on the Hofvijver next to the Dutch parliament. The Galerij Prins Willem V is at the opposite end of the water — walk through the Binnenhof courtyard of the parliament complex if open (or along the equally beautiful opposite bank of the small lake).
Parking is easy (if pricy) at the nearby Parking Centrum Plein. From the main train station walking is usually the simplest option. Tram stops Kneuterdiijk (on tram 1 Schevingen to Delft) and Buitenhof (tram 15 and 16) are close to the Galerij Prins Willem V and a pleasant stroll from the Mauritshuis too.
More in Den Haag / The Hague
- Mauritshuis — a top collection of Dutch Golden Age Old Masters’ paintings
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag — modern art including the largest Mondrian collection in the world.
- Louwman Museum — one of the best car museums in the world with the largest collection of veteran cars (up to 1904) in the world.
