A Thirst for Riches

Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West

In an exclusive Canadian showing, ‘A Thirst for Riches: Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West’ points to the active history of trade between Europe and Muslim civilizations while exploring how beautiful objects acquire new meanings as they are exchanged.

Drawing from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — supplemented by loans from other institutions — the exhibition pairs mid 17th-century Dutch paintings featuring Eastern carpets with actual carpets produced in the Near and Far East during the same period. Did these carpets symbolize wealth and worldliness — or did they signify vanity and excess? A Thirst for Riches: Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West is a powerful reminder of the cultural impact of trade.

‘Paintings by Dutch and Flemish old masters are treasures of most museum collections,’ notes Aga Khan Museum Director and CEO Henry Kim. ‘But how many of us have asked what Eastern carpets are doing in many of them? A Thirst for Riches asks this question and more: it challenges us to take a fresh look at European paintings and to explore the connections between East and West.’

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