Rembrandt

In 1876 the French artist and critic Eugène Fromentin offered his readers a telling summary of the enduring mystique of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn:

Drenched as it is in nineteenth-century hyperbole, Fromentin's Rembrandt is a vivid figment of the French author's Romantic imagination. Every age invents its own Rembrandt. Our own era seeks less for the soul of the master, than for physical traces of his artistic DNA in an attempt to wield the sciences of dendochronology and x-ray photography as ultimate indicators of the 'true' hand of the artist. Latter-day declarations that long-cherished paintings are now either Rembrandt or non-Rembrandt have only increased the mystique surrounding this celebrated artist.The essence of Rembrandt and 'Rembrandtness' survives both Fromentin's flights of fancy and more modern incarnations, steeped as it is in our eternal fascination with 'the language of ideas' of Rembrandt and his world.

Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact is a rich and rewarding exhibition, offering a choice of paths for exploration and consideration. Rembrandt the master painter is the star attraction. We can track Rembrandt's development from the meticulous precision of the young 'student' painter in Leiden in 1625–30, to the worldly celebration and self-confidence of the successful portraitist-about-town in the bustling Amsterdam of the 1630s and 1640s. Against this younger, worldly Rembrandt stands the laissez-faire bravura of the old master artist less concerned with capturing the external appearance of things than with manipulating paint and light in the majestic search for inner, spiritual truths. Enjoying the sheer beauty of his paint is one of the most immediately satisfying ways of entering the world of Rembrandt.

Another path within this exhibition circumnavigates the life of Rembrandt the man – his progression from the limited horizons of his student days in Leiden to a life of social success and material comfort as a fashionable portrait artist. With the astonishing development of Rembrandt's artistic prowess, comes also the tragic death of his first wife Saskia, as well as the loss of three of their four children in extreme infancy. In the final years of his life, we can track behind Rembrandt's art the course of the artist's descent into bankruptcy and the cumulative deaths of both his second lover, Hendrickje Stoffels in a plague epidemic, and of his only son Titus. The myth of the artist dying, financially straightened and alone, became Rembrandt's reality at the close of his career.

Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact also affords the viewer a fascinating exploration of Rembrandt the teacher. The work of a dozen younger artists who at one time or another studied under or worked alongside Rembrandt in his studio, are included in the exhibition, allowing a wealth of comparisons and contrasts to be made between their work and that of Rembrandt himself. Some pupils, engaged in tenebrous and overtly 'painterly' compositions, are obviously following in the master's footsteps. Others, however, move significantly away from Rembrandt's final direction turning towards more classical or 'Caravaggist' Italianate models, or the Flemish tradition as imparted by Rubens. Tracking the divergent paths trodden by the 'master' and his 'pupils' is one of the many rewards which repeated visits to Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact can offer.

In addition to inviting us to look afresh at Rembrandt the painter, this show also gives us a superlative insight into two other extraordinary personalities – Rembrandt the draughtsman, and Rembrandt the etcher. In the world of Rembrandt's etchings we find the core of the artist's 'language of ideas'. Stripped of the tactile appeal of oils and canvas, and the `vanities' of colours, pigments and glazes, the etchings reveal, through consummately controlled line and chiaroscuro, the keen intellect and compositional finesse of Rembrandt at his finest. As Fromentin eloquently wrote a century ago: 'The whole of Rembrandt is in his etchings – his mind, tendencies, imagination, reverie, good sense, chimeras, difficulties of rendering the impossible, realities in nothingness. It is the same craftsmanship, the same set purpose, the same carelessness and insistence, the same strangeness of style, the same desperate and sudden success achieved by expression'.

As a draughtsman, Rembrandt's eyes were as acquisitive as his wallet's legendary compulsion for acquiring the rare and the beautiful. While he stocked his studio with exotic objects from the Far East, and pursued the collecting of prints by his favourite Italian and German artists with a zeal bordering on fanaticism, he also personally 'acquired' virtually everything appealing that he saw, through the mastery of his infallible sketching hand. This exhibition contains a wonderful range of Rembrandt drawings, from preparatory sketches for his own paintings and copies after other artists, to vividly sketched portraits and meticulous landscape studies.

Whichever Rembrandt you choose to visit first, you will find him in abundance in Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact.

Ted Gott, Curator, International Art

Prior to Rembrandt's birth in 1606, the Netherlands, once ruled by Spain, was divided into north and south. The southern regions remained under Spanish rule while the north became the Republic of the United Netherlands. Though retaining their individual political organisations, the northern provinces were linked through the 'court' of the Stadtholder or leader.

In Rembrandt's lifetime, the Stadtholder was prince Frederik Hendrik whose commissions helped establish Rembrandt's reputation when he arrived in Amsterdam.

During the seventeenth century Amsterdam was one of the wealthiest cities in the world and renowned for its trade and reputation as the leading banking centre. The founding of the Dutch East India Company (1602) and the Dutch West Indian Company (1621) strengthened international trading networks. As a result, Amsterdam attracted wealthy and prominent families, the population increasing rapidly.

It was more culturally diverse than almost any other Northern European urban centre at the time and attracted many young artists. For nearly half a century, this nation was a great mercantile sea power, ruling the seas and drawing rich profits from its possessions and trade. Holland's religious and economic independence created an atmosphere of independence and freedom which encouraged artistic development.

The economic boom was followed by a downturn in the 1650's which was driven by internal religious conflict and external military campaigns. Holland began to relinquish its position of supremacy to England and France, which affected artistic patronage and production.

Early Life

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was born in Leiden in 1606, the ninth of ten children. His father, Harmen, was a miller and the family was considered prosperous.

Rembrandt attended the Latin school where he received a sound education in languages and the Bible. He enrolled at University at the age of thirteen, but persuaded his parents to apprentice him to the artist, Jacob Isaacsz van Swanenburg.

In 1641, Orlers, his first biographer, reports that 'art lovers were most amazed at Rembrandt's progress under Swanenburgh, for it was clear that he had the makings of an exceptional painter.' In Swanenburgh's studio, Rembrandt learnt the fundamentals of art and how to prepare art materials.

After three years, Rembrandt completed his apprenticeship with Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. Lastman was renowned for his history paintings and had travelled to Italy, where he and other artists were inspired by Adam Elsheimer and Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio who were painting in Rome at the time. Elsheimer was a German miniaturist painter known for his use of brilliant colour. Working on a larger scale, Caravaggio was famous for his dramatic realism. His manipulation of chiaroscuro to create confronting narratives inspired artists from all over Europe who came into contact with his work. Rembrandt's link with such developments came via other artists who had reinterpreted the new visual language of Caravaggio known as Caravaggisti. A notable group of Caravaggisti worked in Utrecht at the time.

Rembrandt's training under Lastman was vital in terms of the stylistic development of his work. It gave him an edge over other Dutch artists who were not trained in the tradition of history painting popular in the Netherlands at the time.

On returning to Leiden in 1625, Rembrandt established himself as an independent painter, possibly sharing a studio with Jan Lievens, who had also studied with Pieter Lastman. They soon gained an excellent reputation, attracting the attention, praise and patronage of the influential Constantijn Huygens, secretary to the Stadholder, Frederik Hendrik. Rembrandt started etching around this time. In 1628, though only twenty-two, he took on his first pupils.

Midlife Career

In the early 1630s, attracted by the prospect of increasing commissions for portraits and other works, Rembrandt moved to the rapidly expanding city of Amsterdam. He lived and worked with the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh. During his first year Rembrandt painted as many as two portraits a week, charging fifty guilders for a head and five hundred for a life-size, full length portrait. He quickly became the most successful portrait painter in Amsterdam, receiving commissions such as that from Jacques de Gheyn Ill. Influenced by the Caravaggisti, Rembrandt soon developed a style of painting characterised by dramatic shadow and subtle light. As is evident in Two Old Men Disputing 1628, his technique involved using impasto in the light areas of the painting, contrasting this with thin applications of paint in the darker areas. Rembrandt's use of dark and light influenced the styles of Dutch art of his generation, and characterised his art throughout his career.

In 1634, Rembrandt married the art dealer's niece, Saskia Uylenburgh, with whom he had a happy and successful life. In the following year they bought and moved into a prestigious house, the mortgage of which was a financial burden to him throughout his life. They had five children but only Titus survived.

For the next nine years, Rembrandt lived in comfort. He collected and invested in drawings, prints, paintings and sculptures. He also spent lavishly on antiques, armour, costume and other exotic objects which were often included in his paintings.

Whilst famous for his portraiture, Rembrandt continued to paint mythological and religious works, making these scenes dramatic with his particular use of chiaroscuro. This emphasis on drama was in keeping with baroque taste. He had a gift for expressive characterisation portraying his figures with an expression of spirituality and emotion. Rembrandt's production of religious subject matter was unusual in seventeenth century Protestant Holland as religious art was not popular with either church or other patrons.

Rembrandt's reputation as a teacher saw an expansion of his studio attracting students like Ferdinand Bol. Trained artists like Carel Fabritius also attended his studio.

At the height of his career, Rembrandt painted one of his many self portraits including his Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 1640, reflecting himself as a distinguished gentleman. In the same year Rembrandt completed the group portrait, The Night Watch, his most famous work.

The 1640s were marked by events which deeply influenced Rembrandt's life and painting. Saskia's death in 1642, when Titus was only nine months, coincided with the end of a prosperous period for Rembrandt. He never remarried, but had a relationship with Titus’ nanny, Geertje Dircks who may be the Young Woman in Bed 1647.

Geertje Dircks left Rembrandt’s home in 1649, about the time that Hendrickje Stoffels was engaged as a housekeeper. Hendrickje eventually became his common-law wife and was the model for many of his pictures.

By about 1650, a more austere and profound style had emerged in Rembrandt’s painting, Using the dramatic shifts in tone and subtle play of' light, which he had mastered, Rembrandt's portraits became more true to life, a psychological study of the sitter, rather than a flattering likeness.

Late Career

Rembrandt lived beyond his means and the economic downturn in Amsterdam contributed to his bankruptcy in 1656. His house and possessions were sold at auction. Hendrickje and Titus formed a partnership in 1660, managing Rembrandt's affairs. Hendrickje died three years later and Titus continued to run the art business until he died in 1668.

In spite of Rembrandt's dire financial straits, he continued to receive a small number of prestigious commissions throughout the 1650s and 1660s. What are now considered some of his greatest paintings were created at this time.

However, Rembrandt lost favour with many patrons which may have contributed to his overall decline in popularity. Rembrandt continued with his own artistic pursuits, using heavy impasto and loose brushwork. Other artists moved to painting in a smoother, more colourful classical Italianate Baroque style in response to changes in Dutch taste.

When Rembrandt died on October 4 1669, he was destitute but by no means unknown or forgotten. He was considered the great master of Dutch art and was renowned throughout Europe.

Historical/Religious Themes

As early as 1625 Rembrandt was painting his interpretations of the Bible and mythological themes. His earliest etchings included numerous scenes from the New Testament. This interest continued as can be seen in the well known Hundred Guilder Print, finished c. 1649.

In Leiden, his narrative paintings were admired and praised. The secretary to the Stadholder Constantijn Huygens's admiration of his painting, Judas returning the thirty pieces of silver 1629, brought Rembrandt to the attention of the Dutch court. Biblical history forms a large part of Rembrandt's oeuvre until 1631 when portraiture dominated, gaining him fame and fortune.

Whether depicting Christ, saint or beggar, Rembrandt concentrated on the frailty of the body and the dilemmas faced by the human spirit. Rembrandt's humanising of the Divine and historical figures set him apart from the popular narrative traditions of his time. This continued interest in the human condition, when public taste had shifted to a more dramatic mode, partially accounts for the decline of interest in Rembrandt's work.

In his portrayal of prophets and apostles Rembrandt concentrates on the human and psychological drama of the situation. He often relied on traces of their attributes to identify who they are, as seen in Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem 1630. Rembrandt's interpretations were also complex, as is evident in Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife 1655 where various parts of the narrative appear in a single image.

In his late career, when church patronage was at its lowest, Rembrandt returned to painting classical and religious themes.

Portraiture

Portraiture played a central role in Rembrandt's career as an artist. He made his reputation and fortune in Amsterdam by gaining portrait commissions from wealthy individuals and groups.

More than any other seventeenth century Dutch painter, Rembrandt was able to convey in his portraits something of his sitter's personality. To achieve this, he often used costume, props, pose and revealing facial expressions and gestures.

In his many self-portraits Rembrandt explored ways of expressing emotion, sometimes in highly exaggerated ways as in those self-portraits which show him grinning broadly, laughing, grimacing or puckering his face in surprise or astonishment. He learnt how to convey emotions through his continual self examination in his self-portraits and portrayals of his family, particularly in his intimate drawings.

Rembrandt's self-portraits had an immediate impact on his contemporaries. His influence is apparent in Ferdinand Bol's self-portraits.

Gary Schwartz, a Rembrandt scholar, noted, 'once Rembrandt got his chance, it became clear that there was a demon of a portraitist in him. It cannot be said that he reinvented the art. He practiced a not particularly personal variation of the international mode of the time, derived from Titian via van Dyck. Only in the larger works, especially the group portraits, did he coin strikingly new solutions to old problems.'

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp 1632 and The Nightwatch 1642 are two of Rembrandt's most famous group portraits. In these works (which are not in the exhibition), he broke away from conventional group portraiture. Instead of presenting static figures, Rembrandt engages the viewer by depicting the characters movement as in a crowd as opposed to other customary static interpretations. Revising and renewing his painting technique, Rembrandt juxtaposed colours with broad brushstrokes giving life to the painting.

Landscape and Other Genre

Whilst relatively few painted landscapes have been identified, one of Rembrandt's finest, Landscape with a Stone Bridge c. 1638, is in this exhibition. An idealised landscape, it is not representative of a particular place. Landscapes more prevalent in his drawings and etchings.

Other genre well represented in his drawings and etchings are observational studies of animals and people in compositions depicting the life and chores of ordinary folk.

Drawing

To Rembrandt, drawing was fundamental to his art and he drew throughout his life. The nature of his work and his prodigious output reflect an irrepressible need to record all that he thought and saw. It seems that Rembrandt's drawings were mostly done for their own sake, as study material, and were rarely signed because they were for his use rather than for sale or public display.

The drawings selected for this exhibition show the full range of Rembrandt's virtuosity and variety of subject matter. Included are quick lightly drawn genre scenes through to full studies of landscapes, people and animals.

A keen observer of nature and human behaviour, Rembrandt is recognised for his talent in translating these impressions into drawings. Figure Studies of Three Women c. 1635, illustrates Rembrandt's ability to render his impressions of human reactions with spontaneity and economy of line.

His red chalk drawing Old Man with a Book 1628, is a preparatory study for his masterpiece Two Old Men Disputing 1628, and demonstrates Rembrandt's supreme skill as a draughtsman. Relatively few such studies remain.

Rembrandt was a master of drawing techniques and materials. In his drawing, Saskia in Bed 1642, he uses pen and ink combined with brush. In Recumbent Lion 1650, Rembrandt explores the use of the brown wash for shading and fine line for definition. An avid collector, Rembrandt paid handsomely for drawings. His collections of works on paper were stored in no fewer than ninety portfolios. His own drawings were stored in a series of files, bound volumes and sketchbooks.

Etchings

Printmaking in Northern Europe was well established by the time Rembrandt began to work in this medium. Engravings and woodcuts were more common. Both techniques involved cutting into the wood or metal plate with an engraver's tool. Rembrandt was a keen collector of woodcuts and engravings. He owned books and prints after great masters like Mantegna and Michelangelo, and by artists including Durer, van Dyck and Lucas Van Leyden.

Rembrandt's inventiveness and originality led him to explore and extend the tradition of printmaking. In particular, Rembrandt's genius is evident in his experimentation with expressive line and printing techniques achievable in etching. In Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill 1639, we can observe Rembrandt's skill in manipulating the etched line to create a wisp of hair or the rich folds of the voluminous sleeve and his ability to capture the mood of the sitter. This self-portrait became a celebrated model used by his students and many later artists.

As in painting, Rembrandt used light and dark, chiaroscuro, in his etchings as exemplified in The Three Trees 1643 to create a dramatic landscape. This print is an instance of Rembrandt's extensive use of the drypoint technique in his etchings; refer to the diagonal striations in the sky.

The process of etching involves covering a metal plate with wax or an acid resistant ground. The artist draws with an etching needle into the ground exposing the metal. The plate is then immersed in acid, usually nitric acid, enabling it to bite into the exposed metal. The longer the plate is in the acid the deeper the bite which creates a bolder line. The ground is removed and the plate inked. Dampened paper is placed over the plate, which is put through a press forcing the paper into the grooves to pick up the ink and create the image in reverse.

The artist can also create an image by scoring directly into the plate with a sharp instrument. This scoring technique known as drypoint creates a burr which will collect the ink and result in a deeper tonal affect. Any change to the design constitutes another state of the print as can be seen in the two versions of Christ crucified between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses' 1653. A number of prints can be made from one plate.

Rembrandt's etchings were greatly appreciated and keenly collected right from the start. The name, The Hundred Guilder print c. 1649, which depicts Christ healing the sick, originates from the considerable price the print was said to have fetched during Rembrandt's time.

Rembrandt produced more than 300 prints — a little over a third of them are represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Rembrandt's Pupils and Contemporaries

The exhibition features forty paintings by some of Rembrandt's best known pupils and followers. In 1628 Rembrandt took on his first apprentices Gerrit Dou (1613 — 1673) and Isaac Jouderville (1612 — c. 1648) in his Leiden studio which he may have shared with Jan Lievens. In the seventeenth century, a young apprentice paid a master painter to learn the trade. As Rembrandt's success and reputation increased, fully trained artists came to his studio to accustom themselves with Rembrandt's manner of painting, which was popular and thus hoping to further their career potential.

Ferdinand Bol (1616 — 1680) was a trained artist when he commenced his studentship with Rembrandt around 1637. Bol, like many followers, echoed Rembrandt's compositions, layered paint application and rich, dark colour scheme. His Self-Portrait 1646 features Rembrandt's use of light on the face and collar in contrast with the dark background. This is often described as Rembrandtesque, in the style of Rembrandt. The heavily draped cloak, beret and chain worn by the artist can be traced to Rembrandt's earlier painting, Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 1640.

In contrast to Bol, Nicholaes Maes (1634 — 1693) trained with Rembrandt as a young apprentice. Maes quickly mastered the Rembrandtesque brush work and use of chiaroscuro. At the age of nineteen he returned to Dordrecht to establish a successful portrait practice based on commissions from the patriciate and mercantile elite. While Rembrandt's influence is still evident in Maes' portrait of the wealthy industrialist, Jacob Trip c. 1659—60, Maes paints with brighter colours and greater clarity reflecting the popular taste of the times.

A number of the paintings by Rembrandt's students, Carel Fabritius and Govaert Flinck, clearly show the new trend for refinement and the elegant classicisism of Van Dyck and French art. These pupils and followers were to reap the rewards of continued patronage for their response to contemporary thought and interests. Rembrandt's work did not decline in technical skill but his style was out of step with contemporary trends in painting.

The Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) is a body of eminent scholars established in 1968, whose aim is to analyse all paintings considered to be by Rembrandt in order to determine the works which can be securely attributed to him. Masterpieces once believed to be by Rembrandt are being attributed to other Dutch artists, with a consequent re-assessment of their standing. Their study is meticulous, based on scientific research, and careful observation. Members of the RRP have visited Melbourne and examined the paintings attributed to Rembrandt at the National Gallery of Victoria. They believe that two of the three works associated with Rembrandt are by the master.

It is estimated that around 300 paintings are really by Rembrandt, while the number wrongly carrying his name is in the thousands. Masterpieces once believed to be by Rembrandt are being attributed to his pupils and followers. Consequently the work of these seventeenth century Dutch artists is also being re-evaluated.

Many of the falsely attributed works were painted long after Rembrandt's death. Experts use many scientific methods to date paintings. They can calculate the age of the materials, the paint itself and the canvas or wood they are painted on, to determine if they really come from Rembrandt's time. If a work with Rembrandt's name on it is painted on a 200 year old piece of wood, it is very obviously not by Rembrandt.