Dutch New York Between East and West: The World of Margrieta van Varick September 18, 2009 - January 3, 2010
Presented at the Bard Graduate Center, 18 West 86th Street
Dutch New York explores the life, times, and possessions of a fascinating woman and her family. Born in the Netherlands, Margrieta van Varick (1649-1695) spent the better part of her life at the extremes of the Dutch colonial works: in Malacca (now Malaysia) and Flatbush (now Brooklyn). Arriving in Flatbush with her minister husband, Rudolphus, in 1686, she set up a textile shop, having brought with her an astonishing array of Eastern and European goods. We know about the wealth of objects thanks to an inventory taken in 1696 documenting her personal and commercial belongings. The groundbreaking research for this exhibition, drawing on the rich and deep collections of the Society and with selected loans from other museums in the U.S. and abroad, and its accompanying catalogue makes an original contribution to the histories of New York City, Dutch colonial and commercial networks, lives of women in the Dutch overseas colonies, and material culture of New York under Dutch and English rule. The exhibition has been curated by Marybeth De Filippis, Assistant Curator of American Art at the
N-YHS and a BGC graduate; Deborah L. Krohn, Associate Professor and Coordinator for History and Theory of Museums at the BGC; and Peter N. Miller, Dean and Chair of Academic Programs at the BGC.