The seventeenth century within the Netherlands was a interval of unequalled creative achievement as evidenced by a plethora of works by the acclaimed painters of the period. This Dutch Golden Age — which additionally noticed outstanding advances in science and world exploration and commerce — was graced by the work of grasp painters together with Johannes Vermeer, Judith Leyster, Franz Hals and, maybe most recognizably of all, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.
Whereas finest identified for his work, Rembrandt (1606-1669) additionally was a prolific draftsman and printmaker who produced greater than 300 prints over his lifetime depicting a variety of topics from biblical, historic, and mythological scenes to landscapes, and portraits.
A brand new exhibition on the Worcester Art Museum is an expansive showcase of Rembrandt’s formidable printmaking expertise. Titled “Rembrandt: Etchings from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,” the present options greater than 80 works, together with 70 etchings by Rembrandt and works of others from whom he drew inspiration, in addition to those that had been influenced by his modern methods.
The exhibition, which involves Worcester from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, is among the many largest exhibitions of the artist’s etchings to ever be proven in the USA. The present opened Nov. 17 and runs via Feb. 19, 2024.
Appreciating the etchings on their very own deserves
Rembrandt’s etchings present a deeper understanding of his creative talents past his well-known work. The present permits individuals to understand his extraordinary expertise in a distinct medium and highlights his extraordinary capability for invention and experimentation.
Included within the present are such masterpieces as “St. Jerome Beside a Pollard Willow” (1648), an imaginative composition exhibiting a bearded St. Jerome seated on the foot of a giant tree trunk engaged on his books, with a lion searching from behind the tree. “Panorama with Three Gabled Cottages Beside a Street” (1650) fabricated from drypoint and etching demonstrates Rambrandt’s potential to push the boundaries of conventional printmaking.
“The exhibition goals to encourage viewers to understand the etchings on their very own deserves, relatively than solely specializing in the celebrity and fame of the artist,” Claire Whitner, the museum’s James A. Welu curator of European artwork, mentioned on the exhibition opening Nov. 17. “We hope that folks will admire the sweetness and uniqueness of those prints and the aesthetic expertise they provide.”
Rembrandt was not but 20 when he started instructing himself printmaking via trial and error. The exhibition follows the artist’s evolution and reveals a dedication to experimentation that resulted in a physique of labor that ranks amongst that of the best printmakers together with Dürer, Piranesi, Goya and Picasso.
The exhibition was organized by Whitner and Peter van der Coelen, curator of prints and drawings for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The present gives a uncommon alternative to view Rembrandt’s etchings which, as light-sensitive works on paper, spend more often than not saved away in protecting containers. “After we do print exhibitions, it’s a really particular second when these objects which can be usually at midnight come out to be seen,” Whitner mentioned. “And to see this a lot of his work in a single place is an opportunity to know Rembrandt in a way more nuanced approach than one usually can.”
‘Fairly fascinating and interesting’
Among the many first issues museum goers will discover within the exhibition is the extremely painstaking element of the etchings, mentioned van der Coelen, who got here to Worcester from Rotterdam for the exhibition opening.“Museum guests usually are drawn to massive, colourful work first, and so they suppose, properly, I haven’t got the time for these smaller black and white issues,” he mentioned. “I hope they are going to discover that typically small works in black and white are actually fairly fascinating and interesting.”
The present contains such essential works as “The Three Crosses,” a 1653 print depicting Christ crucified between the 2 thieves achieved completely in drypoint, a method that creates gentle, velvety traces. Thought-about one in all Rembrandt’s most ingenious and most interesting works, it has areas which can be darkish and tough to learn, aside from the determine of Christ on the cross. The remainder of the imagery is depicted in dramatic grays and blacks, created by the density of the traces. For the present, the museum enlarged a picture of the print to fully cowl a partition wall within the gallery, making for an impactful show.
The exhibition took place when, on account of pandemic disruptions, the museum discovered itself with area in its exhibitions calendar, Whitner mentioned. An organization that facilitates travelling exhibitions, known as The Museum Field, introduced the Rembrandt prints alternative to the museum. Whitner mentioned that Nancy Kathryn Burns, the museum’s curator of prints, drawings, and pictures, noticed potential within the exhibition and recommended it may present a possibility to showcase the museum’s assortment of previous grasp’s works on paper, together with a number of by Rembrandt.
A few of WAM’s prints, which had been saved away for years, wanted conservation therapy, nonetheless, however curators seen this exhibition as a possibility to dedicate monetary assets for therapy of the prints and an opportunity to show them in a bigger context. The exhibition additionally served the wants of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen which, as a result of it’s present process intensive renovations, was happy to ship the exhibition out whereas development work is ongoing.
Fueled by ambition and outsized expertise
Rembrandt’s illustrious profession was fueled by ambition as a lot because it was by his outsized expertise. He continually strived to be among the many nice graphic artists of the previous whose work he admired, and his competitiveness set him aside. He was continually conscious of what different artists, corresponding to Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Lievens, had been doing. He aimed to be on the identical degree and even higher than they had been, which drove him to constantly enhance his personal work. Rembrandt’s potential to mix experimentation, versatility, creativeness, and his competitiveness made his work stand out and contributed to his lasting impression on the artwork world.
The present highlights Rembrandt’s mastery of etching and his modern methods which revolutionized the etching course of via his experiments with completely different strategies, such because the heavy use of drypoint, incorporating shade, and utilizing unusual supplies corresponding to Japanese paper, vellum, and oatmeal paper.
Rembrandt loved worldwide fame throughout his lifetime and his prints had been extremely wanted by collectors, with some commanding excessive costs. “Collectors had been astonished by what he was doing.,” van der Coelen mentioned. “It was actually new.”
An particularly lovely and complicated print within the exhibition, “Christ Blessing the Kids and Therapeutic the Sick” (1648), was an prompt sensation. “Instantly after it got here available on the market it fetched very excessive costs,” van der Coelen mentioned. “So, it received the nickname ‘The Hundred Guilder Print.’ And if you happen to perceive {that a} print by Rubens would value perhaps two guilders, you may see how Rembrandt’s can be very rather more costly.”
Exhibition excursions can be found at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and are free with museum admission. Area is proscribed. You’ll be able to register on the museum’s welcome desk.
Demonstrations
‘The Science of Etching,’ introduced by the EcoTariumWhen: Midday to three p.m., Jan. 15The place: Lancaster Foyer, Worcester Artwork Museum, 55 Salisbury St,, WorcesterHow a lot: Included with admission
‘Etching Strategies By means of Historical past’When: 11 a.m. to three p.m. Feb. 17The place: Lancaster Foyer, Worcester Artwork Museum, 55 Salisbury St,, WorcesterHow a lot: Included with admission