R E M BR A N DT Th e Pa i nter Th i n k i n g
The Pain
Ernst van de Wetering
Rembrandt The Painter Thinking Even during the artist's lifetime, contemporary art lovers considered Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) to be an exceptional artist. In this revelatory sequel to the acclaimed Rembrandt: The Painter at Work, renowned Rembrandt authority Ernst van de Wetering investigates the painter’s considerations that determined the striking changes in his development from an early age onwards.
Ernst van de Wetering (1938) is emeritus professor of art history. He became a team-member of the Rembrandt Research Project in 1968 and its chairman in 1993. Originally trained as a painter and art-historian, he worked from 1969-1987 in the Amsterdam based Central Research Laboratory of Objects of Art and Science. From 1987-2002 he taught at the University of Amsterdam. In 2003/2004 he was Slade Professor at the University of Oxford. He is considered one of the world's foremost specialists on
Coming next spring, this gorgeously illustrated book explores how Rembrandt achieved mastery by systematic exploration of the 'foundations of the art of painting'. According to written sources from the seventeenth century, which were largely misinterpreted until now, these ‘foundations’ were considered essential at that time. From his first endeavours in painting, Rembrandt embarked on a journey past these foundations, thus becoming the 'pittore famoso', whom Count Cosimo the Medici visited at the end of his life. Rembrandt never stopped searching for solutions to the pictorial problems that confronted him; this led over time to radical changes that cannot simply be attributed to stylistic evolution or natural development.
Rembrandt and his work. In 1997, he published the widely acclaimed monograph Rembrandt: The Painter at Work (2nd ed. 2008). 2014 saw the publication of his monumental oeuvre catalogue Rembrandt’s Paintings Revisited: A Complete Survey; the concluding volume of A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings.
245 x 280 mm 356 pages 270-300 colour illustrations Hardback ISBN 978 94 6298 152 2
In a quest as rigorous and novel as the artist's, Van de Wetering reveals how Rembrandt became the revolutionary painter that would continue to fascinate the art world. This ground breaking exploration reconstructs Rembrandt's theories and methods, shedding new light both on the artist's exceptional accomplishments and on the theory and practice of painting in the Dutch Golden Age.
€89.00 / £64.00 Paperback ISBN 978 90 8964 561 6 €44.95 / £34.95 For more information you can go to our website www.aup.nl or order through www.nbninternational.com
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Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.
We learn from what Vasari has written, to our great profit, about the great Titian, how in the bloom of his youth he used to execute his artworks industriously with incredible neatness; and his works were beyond reproach, indeed they pleased everyone, whether one stood at a distance or close up. But in the end he executed his work very differently, with blotches and rough strokes and of course that looked well if one stood at quite a distance, but it could not be viewed close up (fig. 186).292 Although Van Mander admitted that Titian’s late works looked good, even if only from a distance, there was an important reason for sounding a warning against working in the rough manner: Several masters, wishing to follow this in their work, have made nothing substantial but have rather produced a lot of ugly dross.They thought they could do as well as those who were well
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R e m b r a n d t : T h e Pa i n t e r T h i n k i n g
fig. 186 Titian, Boy with dogs, 1570. Panel, 99.5 x 117 cm (detail). Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. page 203 fig. 187 Rembrandt, Family portrait, c. 1665. Canvas, 126 x 167 cm (detail). Braunschweig,
The Pain
practised and have deceived themselves with a mistaken idea, because they thought that his [Titian’s] works had been made effortlessly, whereas in fact the utmost competence had been deployed with [great] effort; for one sees that his works have several times been painted again and covered with [fresh] paint:There is more effort in it than one would think. […] the effort is hidden in it by great artistry. 293 It is important for our understanding of Rembrandt’s eventual choice of the rough manner to be aware that as early as the time of Vasari and Van Mander, there was no inconsistency or conflict seen between the rough manner and a convincing illusion, as long as the work was painted by a true master and was viewed from a certain distance. This is in fact the clue to the much-quoted story told by Houbraken in relation to his comment
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(detail). The Hague, Mauritshuis.
that Rembrandt’s paintings, especially in his late period, looked as though the paint had been smeared on with a brick layer’s trowel (see fig. 187), which is why, if people came to his studio, and wanted to look at his work close up, he pulled them back, saying: the smell of the paint will bother you. 294 Apart from discussions over the rough and the fine manner of painting, Van Mander expressed his admiration for the way Italian painters other than the Venetians used the brush. His criticism of the way his northern contemporaries (including himself) painted is unsparing. Not only does our work look dry but when we do our best to paint flesh it still looks like fish or stone.295 So Van Mander exhorts his contemporaries to consider using the brush and paint differently: Do not then remain tied to your false opinion,
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R e m b r a n d t : T h e Pa i n t e r T h i n k i n g
left fig. 188 Rembrandt, David with the head of Goliath before Saul, 1627. Panel, 27.2 x 39.6 cm (detail of fig. 165). Basle, Kunstmuseum. right fig. 189 Rembrandt, Laughing soldier, c. 1630. Copper, 15.3 x 12.2 cm
like some rigid sect; but change your approach here freely, it is no sin.296 Rembrandt’s peinture was from the very beginning remarkably varied. He already used a ‘rough’ way of painting in some of his early works, such as the ‘vidimus’ with David before Saul in Basle (figs. 188 and 165). But that was a rapid oil sketch. If our interpretation of the three same-sized works on gilded copper from around 1630 is correct, Rembrandt did in fact consider the ‘rough’ manner in which the Laughing soldier in the Mauritshuis is painted (fig. 189) a distinct manner to be used when he painted the face of a laughing figure.297 (see also fig. 126) From c.1650 the breadth of differentiated, free brushwork in Rembrandt’s paintings becomes dominant. One could say, albeit with reservations to be discussed later, that Rembrandt opted from this point on for the ‘rough manner’, although applied with greater differentiation than by the aged
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The Burlington Magazine
“Who would not have wanted to look over Rembrandt’s shoulder while he painted? Among the countless books on Rembrandt, that by Ernst van de Wetering comes closest to conveying something of this experience because the author combines the qualifications of a trained connoisseur and of a practising painter.”
ERNST GOMBRICH
“Ernst van de Wetering’s wonderful book has taken us further than almost any study over the past twenty years, towards an understanding of the machinery of Rembrandt’s genius. No one attempting to write about Rembrandt in the future will be able to do so without taking this fine work into account.” SIMON SCHAMA
“This is a very rich book, a deeply felt analysis of an artist whom the author knows better than almost any other living scholar.” T I M E S L I T E R A RY S U P P L E M E N T
“The book is, if one may be allowed to say such a thing about a serious scholarly work, a gripping good-read.” T H E BU R L I N G TO N M AG A Z I N E
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The Painter at Work
Aboutallowed the book 'The book is - if one may be to say such a thing about a serious scholarly work - a gripping goodread.'
Christopher White -
ernst van de wetering
valuable insight into the possibilities of scholarly as well as scientific methods to gain a deeper understanding of the art of painting. For these reasons this book is already a classic and will remain an ‘evergreen’ text that will be read and used by generations to come.
rembrandt
Rembrandt. The Painter at Work is written by a scholar with a broad experience in several fields and a rare constellation of talents. This helps explain the book’s appeal to a wide variety of readers and users: artists, art historians, conservators/restorers, students, as well as Photo: Willem Diepraam art lovers and laymen. Ernst van de Wetering (b. 1938), emeritus professor of art history at the University of Amsterdam, was initially trained as an artist. He worked for 18 years (1969-1987) together with scientists and restorers at the Dutch Central Laboratory for Art and Science. Since 1968 he has been deeply involved in the investigation of paintings by Rembrandt and the painters around him in the context of the famous Rembrandt Research Project, whose Chairman and most active author he has been since 1993. He has contributed essential chapters and catalogue texts for four volumes of A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings and numerous essays in catalogues for Rembrandt exhibitions, some of which he conceived himself. Rembrandt. The Painter at Work is a book that demonstrates profound empathy with the artistic endeavours of a great artist. But it is not only a book about Rembrandt; it is also a synthesis of Van de Wetering’s experience and is unique in its combination of depth and breadth of insight into the genesis of works of art. It provides an exemplary frame for an approach to the study of any painter, as well as being an eye-opener for contemporary painters with an interest in the technical traditions of their art. The book is used by a growing number of universities all over the world. On the one hand, it gives students of art history as well as those in the field of conservation access both to historical studio practice in general and to the interrelationships between craft and creativity. On the other hand, it provides a most
rembrandt The Painter at Work
9 789089 640338
'This is a very rich book, a deeply felt analysis of an artist whom the author knows better than almost any other living scholar.'
revised edition amste rdam unive rsity pre ss
A M S T E R DA M U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S
Christopher Brown Times Literary Supplement
Also by Ernst van de Wetering:
Rembrandt The Painter at Work 245 x 280 mm 356 pages 228 full colour and 119 b/w illustrations
'Who would not have wanted to look over Rembrandt's shoulder while he painted? Among the countless books on Rembrandt, that by Ernst van de Wetering comes closest to conveying something of this experience because the author combines the qualifications of a trained connoisseur and of a practising painter.' Ernst Gombrich
Paperback ISBN 978 90 8964 033 8 €47.95 / £38.95