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The Dutch Galleries
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The Holland Sentinel - Letters to the editor
Sunday, June 3, 2007
An outsider's message to Holland: You've got a treasure there
I write to recommend to your readers' attention the recent opening of one of West Michigan's most important attractions, the permanent Dutch Galleries at the Holland Museum.
Most of your readers know the history of the great Dutch immigration to the region in the 1830s and 1840s, a story that the Holland Museum has been telling for many years. What readers may not know is that the museum has now become one of the great institutions to discover a broader Dutch history going back centuries.
Long before the Rev. Van Raalte blessed these shores, the tiny Netherlands became one of the world's first superpowers. If the Dutch did not invent capitalism and republican government, they perfected the forms. Dutch explorers and traders circled the globe, settling the New World and bringing the wealth of the East Indies to the great port towns of Holland. They also brought back with them ideas about tolerance and diversity, and Holland consequently became a site of unparalleled theological and philosophic achievement.
Even after the Golden Age of the Republic, Dutch artists continued to transform the way we look at the world.
All of this history is on glorious display at the Holland Museum. An unparalleled wealth of painting, material culture and original artifacts from the 17th through the 20th centuries await visitors. Thanks to generous contributors and expert curators, the new Dutch Galleries at the Holland Museum are already one of the rare cultural jewels of the region and are certain to remain a source of regional pride for years to come. There is no other exhibition like this on permanent display in the United States. I urge West Michiganians to experience this rich history for themselves.
David J. Snyder
Ann Arbor
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