In Alkmaar, the Netherlands, the 500-year anniversary of the great or St Lawrence Church will be celebrated in 2018. The city museum Alkmaar gives the festive kickoff of the Jubilee year with an exhibition of artworks of the great Church. Alkmaar paintings and drawings by two famous old masters – Salomon van Ruysdael and Pieter Saenredam – are combined with new work by two contemporary photographers: Hans van der Meer and Karin Borghouts.

“I have admired Pieter Saenredam for a long time. His interiors are bright, clear and extremely precise. It was an exciting challenge to follow in his footsteps photographically. Nowadays Great St Lawrence Church in Alkmaar no longer has a religious function. It hosts exhibitions, concerts, parties and festivals. I took these events as my subject, with the church as the backdrop. I bring people into the picture like actors in a theatre. They are tiny so as to emphasize the grandeur of the church, as they were in Saenredam’s works.” KB

Ruysdael en Saenredam in Alkmaar.
Meesterwerken van de Grote Kerk (with new photographs by Hans van der Meer and Karin Borghouts)

February 17 - June 10, 2018
Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar
Canadaplein 1 - Alkmaar - The Netherlands

Catalogue written by Christi Klinkert available in Dutch

Commissioned assignment by Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar with the support of Mondriaanfonds