DATE: Monday, June 30, 1997                 TAG: 9706280021

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

SUPER STAR, SUPER DRAW HAMPTON ROADS WILL BE ABLE TO SAVOR "REMBRANDT AND THE GOLDEN AGE" - AN ACT THAT WILL BE TOUGH TO FOLLOW.

The Chrysler Museum of Art's ``Rembrandt and the Golden Age'' exhibition, which opens tomorrow, is a happy event for the museum and Hampton Roads.

Two masterpieces by Rembrandt - whose paintings, to the best of our knowledge, have never before come to Southeastern Virginia - are exhibition's core. But all 14 works in the show are among the finest in the rich collection of Dutch paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The Rembrandts - ``Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves'' and ``Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan'' - would alone swell attendance at the Chrysler. But also displayed are the compelling ``Portrait of a Gentleman'' by Frans Hals, another super star of art, sumptuous still lifes, luminous landscapes, exuberant ``Flowers in an Urn'' by Jan van Huysum and the passionately devout ``Hermit'' by Gerard Dou.

Throughout the 17th century, while English settlers were establishing and expanding their presence in North America, the Calvinist inhabitants of the northern provinces of The Netherlands were wresting independence from Catholic Spain and fashioning an empire. As the Dutch prospered, painters recorded their success and painted landscapes and other scenes for their homes. Legions of artists emerged to satisfy the market.

``Rembrandt and the Golden Age'' will be in residence through November. Three Monet paintings from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will arrive in August. And a traveling exhibit of Toulouse-Lautrec's colorful creations will give Hampton Roads' inhabitants yet another reason to visit the museum before the ``Golden Age'' departs.

``Rembrandt and the Golden Age'' contains some of the best in Dutch painting. That the National Gallery is entrusting the Chrysler with these works while its west wing is refurbished is a tribute to the quality of the Norfolk institution's collection, building and staff. The exhibition's cost - a comparatively modest $30,000 because the National Gallery generously waived any loan fee - is being underwritten by Mobil Corporation, Miller Mart and George and Linda Kaufman of Norfolk.

The exhibition demonstrates that with an excellent reputation, boldness and no outrageous outlay of money, the Chrysler can can present crowd-appealing shows of breathtaking quality.

As a museum that aspires to lure throngs to its galleries, the Chrysler has not choice but to strive to present such exhibitions. ``Rembrandt and the Golden Age'' raises expectations. The Chrysler's mew chllenge is to not disappoint them.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu