ART Rembrandt in Print

REMBRANDT

words edel cassidy

Rembrandt’s finest prints go on display at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork

Anew exhibition at Cork’s Crawford Art Gallery invites visitors to encounter the astonishing work of Rembrandt van Rijn. Rembrandt in Print presents fifty of the Dutch Master’s finest works.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) is widely hailed as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age and one of the most experimental printmakers of the seventeenth century. This exhibition presents Rembrandt as an unrivalled storyteller through a selection of outstanding prints ranging from 1630 until the late 1650s. Through these works, viewers will be exposed to the artist’s inventive techniques and extraordinary skills. The prints, which are almost 400 years old, are perfectly preserved and, though small in scale, reveal the exquisite, rich detail of his work.

While most other contemporary printmakers made prints of historical, religious, or mythological subjects, Rembrandt also delighted in presenting everyday scenes. The exhibition includes a range of these images such as intimate family studies, a selection of life-drawn nudes, and carefully detailed characters observed on the streets. A variety of subject matters from portraiture to landscape, and from the biblical to the everyday, are explored in the exhibition, revealing not only Rembrandt’s extraordinary talent but also his playful exploration of printmaking techniques. One such technique was drypoint, which he found created the velvety black textures and tonal qualities associated with painting. He also experimented with various papers and was particularly drawn to Japan paper as its yellowish color was ideal especially for his landscape prints.

‘A variety of subject matters from portraiture to landscape, and from the biblical to the everyday, are explored in the exhibition’

The works featured in the exhibition are on loan from the Ashmolean Museum, the University of Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology, which was founded in 1683. Rembrandt in Print presents fifty of the Dutch Master’s finest works from the museum’s world-class collection of over 200 etchings and drypoints.

Ashmolean curator, An Van Camp says: ‘This collection of fifty works is the best-of-the-best of the Ashmolean’s outstanding Rembrandt prints collection. He created extraordinary prints by using existing techniques in his own artistic and innovative way. His prints range from squiggly, drawing-like sketches to more pictorial, heavily hatched compositions. While seeming quite diverse at first sight, all Rembrandt’s printed works are characterised by his talent for storytelling and his keen observational skills. His subjects are steeped in drama, adding atmosphere to views of the Dutch countryside or imbuing biblical scenes with lively characters.’

The Crawford Art Gallery is the only Irish venue where Rembrandt’s prints will be on view. It is fitting that the Dutch Master is exhibited in the historic gallery at Emmet Place, which was once the city’s Custom House when Cork was a thriving merchant port and there was a successful shipping trade between Ireland and Holland.

Rembrandt in Print is sponsored by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and is on display at the Crawford Art Gallery from 17 September 2021 – 9 January 2022. Exhibition highlights include:

Portrait of Jan Uytenbogaert, ‘The Goldweigher’ 1639, Rembrandt van Rijn ©Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Etching and drypoint on laid paper

Jan Uytenbogaert (1608–1680) was the chief tax collector for Holland, the wealthiest province of the Dutch Republic. In this highly detailed image, the main figure sits at a carpet-covered table bearing a weighing scales and bags of gold as he records payments in a ledger. The opulence of the room and Uytenbogaert’s lavish dress may be a subtle hint at his true nature. Dressed in a fur gown and a stylish beret, he reaches out for a bag of gold being presented to him, his hand grasping it in an almost avaricious manner, while an elderly couple carrying bags of gold wait in the doorway.

The Three Trees 1643, Rembrandt van Rijn © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Etching, engraving and drypoint on laid paper

As there are no identifiable landmarks, this work appears to be composed of elements studied from reality rather than representing a specific place. In this, his largest and most striking landscape etching, but also his most complex, Rembrandt has evoked the characteristic features of the Dutch landscape in a generic sense.

Rembrandt was drawn to the Bible and it is believed that, like many of his works, The Three Trees contains religious allusions, in that the number three represents the holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) and also symbolises the three wooden crosses on Calvary.

The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight 1654, Rembrandt van Rijn © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Etching and drypoint on Japan paper

One of the greatest interpreters of biblical stories, Rembrandt used the Bible as a source of inspiration for over 300 works throughout his career, particularly during the 1650s. The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight depicts the moment when the body of Jesus is taken down from the cross by his followers Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. A figure holds a torch, above the foot of Jesus, still attached to the cross. Everything directly around the flame, which is the only source of light, is brightly illuminated, while details in the background vanish into the darkness rendered with a dense network of etched lines. Self-portrait with Saskia 1636, Rembrandt van Rijn © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Etching on laid paper

Rembrandt looks up while drawing or etching and the young woman seated by his side is his wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, whom he married two years earlier in 1634. Rembrandt, who painted, etched, and drew more than seventy-five self-portraits, preferred to show himself in a variety of different imagined roles. Here he portrays both himself and Saskia in historical dress. They are both attired in 16th-century costume – Rembrandt wears a plumed beret and Saskia a veil.

The Rat Catcher 1632, Rembrandt van Rijn © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Etching with slight surface tone on laid paper

While most of his contemporary printmakers produced prints of historical, religious, or mythological subjects, Rembrandt enjoyed presenting scenes from everyday life. He often used street characters such as musicians, beggars and peasants as his subjects. The careful presentation and compassion he used while portraying these individuals was not the norm at the time. This early etching is an example and it was one of Rembrandt’s most popular prints in the seventeenth century.