Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan in 1909, was 'The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Old Dutch Masters', commemorating the tercentenary of discovering New York's Hudson River. It was curated by the German-American connoisseur of Dutch Old Master paintings William Reinhold Valentiner (1880-1958)—who also authored its extensive catalouge. These are paintings made at the museum, showing visitors viewing works in the galleries, in 1909. 'It would be difficult to conceive an experience more stimulating to lovers of art than that which is offered by the Metropolitan Museum to the Hudson-Fulton Celebration', observed a New York Times article, dating from 19 September 1909. There were 155 Dutch paintings on display—including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Frans Hals. As one scholar observed of the momentous occasion, in an article from 2009: 'Now as then, paintings from the Dutch "Golden Age" continue to serve as one of Holland's greatest exports to America.'

This is the genesis artwork in this collection of paintings showing the galleries as they looked during that exhibition. It portrays the main entry to the many other galleries depicted in the 25 other paintings in this collection—all of which were produced by artists who were permitted to paint what they saw in the galleries, in 1909, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Together, they form a time capsule of memories from a past that's now long-gone. It is a past that's close enough in time to be remembered, though far enough away in time to be romanticized as its own 'golden age', of American art museums.