Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of Northern Baroque Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, talks about the exhibition.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has opened a new exhibit, “Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt,” which details the role of drawing by the Dutch Masters in the Golden Age as they created their paintings of genre scenes, still lifes, and realistic Dutch landscapes.

With more than 100 pieces of art, including 91 drawings and two sketchbooks, the exhibit gives visitors insight into the artistic process of noted Dutch painters, including Rembrandt van Rijn, Pieter Jansz Saenredam, and Caspar Netscher.

Many of the paintings are paired with the draft drawings the artists used to shape their art to focus the visitor’s attention to the train of thought used by 17^th century Dutch masters.

“The exciting thing about this show is to see the different types of drawings the artists created: imaginative drawings, drawings from life, compositional drawings and construction drawings,” said Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of Northern Baroque Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, at the press preview for the exhibition on Tuesday.

In viewing the collection, visitors will see how the artists incorporated their preliminary work into the final pieces. Some drawings and sketches were merely used for inspiration, while others are similar to the final piece.

“This exhibition embodies two things that are near and dear to the Dutch: hard work and innovation,” said Dutch Ambassador to the US Henne Schuwer. “The sketches reveal the hard work that is the foundation of a Dutch masterpiece and the paintings themselves illustrate the innovative spirit of the Dutch painters.”

The artworks are borrowed and bought from various museums, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.

“Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt” is on view through January 2, 2017, at the National Gallery of Art.