From 3 March to 13 June 2011 the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague is holding an exhibition of works by the famous baroque painter Jan Steen (1626-1679). At the core of the exhibition are the fourteen paintings owned by the Mauritshuis itself, but these are complemented by works from other museums and from private collections. 

Jan Steen is widely known for his exuberant paintings of everyday life, depicting extremely lively, even chaotic scenes – scenes to which the Dutch language owes the phrase “een huishouden van Jan Steen”, meaning a total shambles. What is less well known is that he was above all a highly versatile artist. As well as his comic scenes of town and country folk he painted tales from the Bible and classical mythology. He also has a number of portraits, including self-portraits, to his name, as well as nature scenes and still lifes, and is famous for his skill in depicting children. In total Jan Steen produced at least 400 paintings. An overview of his work can be seen on the Web Gallery of Art. 

Watch a restoration

During the exhibition those interested will be able to visit a studio where two of Steen’s paintings are being restored. We can show you something of this here in a film made by the museum. 

And you can read an article on Jan Steen by Mariët Westerman in our publications Septentrion and The Low Countries. 

[Illustration: Jan Steen, Party at an Inn, 1674, Oil, 83.8  x 109.2 cm. Louvre, Paris]