Beyond the Medici: The Haukohl Family Collection
February 22, 2024 - May 19, 2024
Beyond the Medici: The Haukohl Family Collection
February 22 – May 19, 2024
The Beyond the Medici exhibition presents a selection of artworks from the Haukohl Family Collection, the largest private collection of Florentine Baroque art of the late 16th to the early 18th centuries outside of Italy. Assembled over more than 35 years by Houston-based art collector and co-founder of the Medici Archive Project Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl, the collection includes paintings and sculptures depicting allegories, religious narratives, genre scenes, and portraits. The exhibition sheds light on the intellectual history of Florence under the reign of the Medici Grand Dukes, while at the same time illuminating the deep interest in science and painting founded on disegno (drawing or preliminary study) during the Florentine Baroque period. Overall, the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue illustrate how the Florentine artists of the 17th and early 18th centuries influenced European art history, politics, and philosophy to a far greater extent than art historical research and the public have previously perceived. The collection highlights the elegance and bravura (dramatic skill) of Italian artists along with showcasing the role of women in history. Sir Mark and his personal philanthropies have launched an American college art museum tour, of which the David Owsley Museum of Art is a welcome beneficiary. Please join us and bear witness to the beauty of Florentine Baroque art and culture.