EXHIBITION > Op het eerste gezicht. Portretkunst uit heden en verleden I Gorcums Museum I 2026 / 27, NL

Op het eerste gezicht. Portretkunst uit heden en verleden. 

October 10, 2026 – March 7, 2027

Curated by Jack van Mildert, Lisette Colijn and Jim van der Meer Mohr

The Hague-based artist Harmanus Serin (1677–1756) specialized in portrait painting. Throughout his career, he worked for the elite of the Randstad region and immortalized various notables from Gorcum. Art historian Jim van der Meer Mohr has conducted in-depth research into his work. Prompted by this research, the Gorcums Museum is organizing an exhibition on portraiture in which Serin’s work is presented alongside a selection of leading contemporary artists.

Fourteen contemporary artists and a theatre maker (each) interpret the theme in their own unique way, working with diverse materials and techniques. Each of them creates surprising portraits—whether of themselves or others—that are colourful, serene or highly exuberant, unsettling, intriguing, but above all, inviting. Participating artists: Emma van Beek, Coco-Roos van Bergen, Koos Buster, Ruud van Empel, Angèle Etoundi Essamba, Rosemin Hendriks, Folkert de Jong, Danny Kariman, Katinka Lampe, Sarah van der Pols, Lique Schoot, Mariëtte van der Ven, Martijn Versteeg, Daniella Wesseling, and a special contribution by theater maker Fred Delfgaauw.

In this exhibition, I am presenting the painting installation ‘15 Days with Hair Towels (2008–2019)’ and three photographic works—the two triptychs ‘When the Wind Blows’ and ‘The Garden’, and the diptych ‘Being There’, all three created in 2026.