What does your ideal landscape look like? And how far do you really need to travel to get that holiday feeling?

Throughout history, artists have sought to expand their boundaries and explore new horizons. In the seventeenth century, many Utrecht artists travelled to Italy, where they drew inspiration from the landscape and their Italian peers. After returning to Utrecht they introduced a new style of painting: landscape vistas with an Italian-Mediterranean quality of light, evocative of a sultry summer day.

The exhibition New Horizons starts from the era of the Italianate painters to examine how contemporary artists and makers relate to the theme of journeying through a landscape. Works can be about experiencing a landscape, or about travelling towards a particular goal, or instead about what is called ‘wanderlust’: travelling without a destination in mind. It is an exhibition about inspiration, and about finding it close to home or instead far away. Journeying through a landscape remains an important theme and a source of inspiration, but images are not limited to idyllic scenes. The landscape is also the backdrop to themes like forced migration and the climate crisis.

New Horizons is the first of a new series of summer exhibitions in Centraal Museum. It offers surprising combinations of works and responds to contemporary issues and events. There will also be a wide range of activities: always wanted to paint a landscape with Bob Ross? Create your own clouds in a caravan parked in the museum garden? New Horizons takes visitors on a journey through the museum, the wonderful courtyard garden, and the museum café.

Featured artists: Anna Aagaard Jensen (1990), Etel Adnan (1975), Jan Both (1615-1652), Joost Conijn (1971), Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), Lungiswa Gqunta (1990), Jacob de Heusch (1656-1701), Carel Cornelisz. de Hooch (1577-1638), Chris Kabel (1975), Klavers van Engelen (1967, 1970), Dirkje Kuik (1929-2008), Martin Margiela (1957), Otobong Nkanga (1974), Oscar Suleyman (1972, 1972), Adrian Paci (1969), Antonis Pittas (1973), Cornelis van Poelenburch (1594/95-1667), Baby Reni (Irene Ha) (1997), Fiona Tan (1966), JCJ Vanderheyden (1928-2012), Evi Vingerling (1979), Jop Vissers Vorstenbosch (1986), Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-1659).  

In The Annex the film The Undercurrent by Rory Pilgrim (1988) is presented.