In 1964, Sarah Campbell Blaffer established a foundation for religious, charitable, and educational purposes. In 1971 its trustees, including Mrs. Blaffer, decided to focus more of the Foundation's resources toward acquiring works of art that would be made available to people throughout Texas through a "museum without walls." The Foundation now maintains, exhibits, and continues to develop a collection of over 150 Old Master and Modern paintings and several hundred works on paper. The six paintings loaned for this exhibition were selected by Dr. James Clifton, Director of the Blaffer Foundation, and were specially chosen to complement the three paintings loaned by the private collector.

The Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings in the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation cover over two centuries of painting activity in The Netherlands. The Netherlands in the three great centuries of artistic production—the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth—can be seen to have begun with the appearance of a great genius in the South, Jan van Eyck, and to have ended with a great genius in the North, Rembrandt. The Blaffer Collection illustrates admirably the middle period of development from the beginning of the sixteenth century and a good proportion of the main aspects of painting in the seventeenth century. In many instances, popular and fashionable painters with international reputation today have been avoided in favor of artists esteemed in their own time. Thus, according to Christopher Wright, who compiled the Foundation catalog for the Dutch, Flemish and German paintings in the collection, "viewing it as a whole, the collection could well be that of a rich and enlightened Amsterdam merchant of the last years of the seventeenth century".

Pieter Brueghel the Younger was the elder son of Pieter Brueghel, the great Netherlandish painter of the 16th century. He was born in Brussels but made his career in Antwerp, where he became a guild master in 1585. He is best known for his copies and variants of his father's peasant scenes. The painting in this exhibition, lent by the Blaffer Foundation, is entitled The Adoration of the Kings and is based on a composition by the Elder which hangs in the Koninklijk Musea voor Schone Kunsten in Brussels. It is thought that some thirty to forty years separate the two paintings. The composition in Brussels is now in what appears to be a poor state of preservation, making the Blaffer picture easier to read from the point of view of composition. Many of the background figures in the original work by the father are either abraded or have almost faded away. Some extra details have also been introduced in the later work, especially in the embroidered garments of the main figures in the foreground. The Blaffer painting is a rare and good example of a type of picture extremely uncommon in America.

Govaert Flinck (1615–1660) was a Dutch painter, active mainly in Amsterdam. He studied with Rembrandt in the early 1630's, and his early work was overwhelmingly influenced by his master. In 1659, he was awarded the most important commission a Dutch painter of his time could receive: he was asked to paint twelve pictures for van Campen's new Town Hall of Amsterdam. Unfortunately, Flinck died three months after signing the contract and the commission was divided among Rembrandt and two other artists. The painting by Flinck in the exhibition was entitled Manoah's Offering and was on loan from a private collection in New York.

Jan Fyt (1611–1661) was a Flemish painter, primarily of still life and hunting scenes. He was born and mainly active in Antwerp, where he was a pupil of Frans Snyders, but in the course of his successful and prolific career he also traveled in France, the Netherlands, and Italy. He was perhaps the preeminent specialist in animal painting and sometimes added animals to Rubens' pictures. Fyt painted in the elaborate style of large decorative still life associated with the circle of Rubens. His most characteristic paintings depict trophies of the hunt, all treated with a feeling for texture and detail akin to that often seen in Dutch still life. The painting in this exhibition, Hounds Resting from the Chase, was a very good example of animal painting, which had reached a high degree of skill and specialization by the mid-seventeenth century.

Daniel Seghers (1590–1661) was the leading Flemish flower painter of the generation after Jan Brueghel, who was his master. He worked in his native Antwerp, where he joined the Jesuit Order in 1614. Seghers achieved considerable fame because of his ability to depict garlands of flowers in a charming and realistic way. These garlands often surrounded a small religious image. His works could not be sold like those of an ordinary artist, but were presented as gifts by the Order, and the princely patrons in return sent lavish treasures including holy relics. Some of Seghers' works rank among the most beautiful flower pieces ever painted.

Other artists represented in this exhibition were Hendrik Heerschop (1627–?), Abraham van den Tempel (1622–1672), and Abraham Janssens (c.1575–c.1632). There was also a painting in the exhibition attributed to Barent Fabritius (1624–1673).

The Tyler Museum of Art wishes to thank the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation and its Director, Dr. James Clifton, and an anonymous private collector for their generous loans to this exhibition. Tyler Museum of Art season exhibition sponsors are Dub and B.J. Riter, the Rogers Foundation, the Watson W. Wise Foundation, the Fair Foundation, and Tyler Junior College. Additional support is provided by the City of Tyler.

The Tyler Museum of Art is located on the east side of the Tyler Junior College campus at 1300 S. Mahon. Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays.