Willem van Tetrode (c. 1525–80): Bronze Sculptures of the Renaissance
This was the first exhibition devoted to Willem van Tetrode, the Northern sculptor who brought the tradition of the classically inspired Italian Renaissance bronze home to the Netherlands. During almost twenty years in Italy, Tetrode studied and restored antique marble sculpture and worked for celebrated artists such as Benvenuto Cellini. From these experiences Tetrode invented expressive small bronzes showing the male nude in poised or violent motion. These heroic nudes transformed the Renaissance bronze statuette into a powerful Northern idiom. Tetrode's work initiated a passion for collecting small bronzes in the North and inspired the muscular classicism in the work of younger artists such as Hendrick Goltzius.
Curated by Frits Scholten of the Rijksmuseum and co-organized by Denise Allen of The Frick Collection, Willem van Tetrode presented almost forty of Tetrode's bronzes, along with examples of his marble sculpture and reliefs. Also included was a selection of prints, lent to the Frick by the Hearn Family Trust, by Goltzius and other graphic artists who were influenced by Tetrode's sculptures. Willem van Tetrode was on view at The Frick Collection concurrently with The Metropolitan Museum of Art's showing of Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch Master (1558-1617): Drawings, Prints, and Paintings.
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue that presented new research by internationally recognized scholars.
This exhibition was made possible through the generosity of Henry R. Kravis, Melvin R. Seiden, Charles Hack and Angella Hearn, J. Tomilson Hill, Robert H. Smith, Julie and Lawrence Salander, Daniel Katz, Christie's, Cyril Humphris, Jon Landau, the Strong-Cuevas Foundation, and Patricia Wengraf, with additional support from the Fellows of The Frick Collection.