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Betsy Wieseman (born 1958) is an American curator and art historian specialized in the art of seventeenth-century Northern Europe. She is the Curator and Head of the Department of Northern European Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the National Gallery of Art, she held curatorial positions at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the National Gallery in London.

Education and career

She studied at the University of Delaware and received her PhD in art history from the University of Maryland, writing it on the life and work of the painter Caspar Netscher.

Wieseman is noted for her scholarship and curatorial expertise, having curated numerous international exhibitions in her field, and she has authored many books and articles on Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century painters. During her tenure in Cleveland she reinstalled three Northern European galleries at the museum.

One of her most well-received exhibitions was the "Late Rembrandt" exhibition at the National Gallery in London in 2014-2015 and the Rijksmuseum in 2015, which showcased Rembrandt's works from the latter part of his career.

The exhibition included approximately 40 paintings, and drawings and prints, offering new insights into Rembrandt’s techniques and thematic preoccupations during his final years.

She is known for her ability to transmute complex timelines and historic developments of the seventeenth century, concerning the period's art, to a wide audience through her curatorial work in museums.

Exhibitions curated

Her research often explores the technical and emotional depth of Northern European paintings, bringing new insights to understanding of art produced during the Dutch Golden Age. Through her curatorial work, Wieseman has contributed extensively to academic publications and exhibition catalogs:

• The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England (February 26, 2023 – May 14, 2023), National Gallery of Art.
• Vermeer's Secrets (October 8, 2022 – January 8, 2023), National Gallery of Art.
• Clouds, Ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings (October 17, 2021 – February 27, 2022), National Gallery of Art.
• Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries (November 18, 2018 – January 21, 2019), Cleveland Museum of Art.
• Dutch Flowers (April 6, 2016 – August 26, 2016), The National Gallery.
• Late Rembrandt (February 12, 2015 – May 17, 2015), National Gallery.
• Rembrandt: The Late Works (October 15, 2014 – January 18, 2015), The National Gallery.
• Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure (June 26, 2013 – September 8, 2013), The National Gallery.
• Vermeer’s Women: Secrets and Silence (October 5, 2011 – January 15, 2012), Fitzwilliam Museum.

Conferences and symposia

• America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Their Circles (May 13-14, 2016), Frick Collection.
• Godefridus Schalcken – Fascination and Impact (January 21-23, 2016), Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud.
• Johannes Vermeer. On Reflection (November 9, 2021).

References

1. Sebastian Smee (October 7, 2022). "National Gallery confirms one of its Vermeers is actually not a Vermeer". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
2. Kennedy, Maev (October 4, 2011). "Vermeer masterpiece from Louvre to Fitzwilliam". The Guardian. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
3. "National Gallery of Art Appoints Betsy Wieseman". Historians of Netherlandish Art. January 23, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
4. "Betsy Wieseman". CODART. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
5. "Marjorie E. Wieseman". The Leiden Collection. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
6. Marjorie Elizabeth Wieseman (2002). Caspar Netscher and Late Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting. Davaco Publishers. ISBN 9070288370.
7. Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens. Yale University Press. 2004. ISBN 0-300-10626-2. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
8. "The Extraordinary Art and Life of Michelina Wautier". St. Louis Art Museum. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
9. Steven Litt (2018-12-30). "Vibrant reboot freshens Northern European galleries at Cleveland Museum of Art". cleveland.com.
10. "Topstukken Rembrandt in Londen". NOS Nieuwsuur. October 14, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
11. Bikker, Jonathan, and Weber, Gregor J.M. (2014). Rembrandt: The Late Works. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-1-85709-558-6. Retrieved August 2, 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
12. Tim Masters (October 14, 2014). "Exhibition paints Rembrandt as 'modern' artist". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
13. Jill Lawless (October 14, 2014). "London show celebrates aging but unbowed Rembrandt". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press.
14. Rodriguez, Cecilia (April 8, 2015). "'Late Rembrandt': Obama's Favorite Painter, An Unprecedented Event At Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum". Forbes. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
15. "'Late Rembrandt': Les dernières œuvres du maître au Rijksmuseum". FranceTV Info. February 13, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
16. Jones, Jonathan (October 19, 2014). "Rembrandt: The Late Works review – magnificently defiant". The Guardian. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
17. Lawrence Weschler. "Vermeer's Daughter." The Atlantic, 20 March 2023.
18. Betsy Wieseman and Brian Capstick (August 23, 2016). Dutch Flowers: In conversation. The National Gallery, London. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
19. Jones, Jonathan (January 7, 2012). "Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence". The Guardian. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
20. "Betsy Wieseman: "Collecting Rubens in America"". The Frick Collection. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
21. Roderick Conway Morris (December 4, 2014). "Rembrandt's Turbulent Final Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
22. Souren Melikian (July 19, 2013). "A Musical Enigma in Dutch Painting". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-08-04.

• American art historians
• American art curators
• Living people
• 1958 births