Look over Rembrandt’s shoulder. Rembrandt’s portrayal of people is at the heart of our new exhibition Rembrandt Observes People. We see loving mothers with children playing, beggars and street musicians, old people with distinctive heads. Rembrandt was a keen observer. He wanted to know what moved people, to capture their dramas, large and small. Discover daily life in the seventeenth century.
Look over Rembrandt’s shoulder. Rembrandt’s portrayal of people is at the heart of our new exhibition Rembrandt Observes People. We see loving mothers with children playing, beggars and street musicians, old people with distinctive heads. Rembrandt was a keen observer. He wanted to know what moved people, to capture their dramas, large and small. Discover daily life in the seventeenth century.
‘I find it amazing that Rembrandt never seizes to surprise. Take his etching of a man making water. The scene is so explicit. That takes guts.’
– Epco Runia, Head of Collection
Rembrandt Observes People features twenty-four etchings from the Rembrandt House Museum’s collection. Holding almost all Rembrandt’s etchings, the museum has one of the largest collections in the world. However, works on paper are fragile and extremely sensitive to light, so the selection will be changed midway through the exhibition. The first part can be seen until 27 May; the second selection will be shown from 28 May until 2 September.
A man peeing. Confrontational? More like embarrassing – even in Rembrandt’s time, when urinating in public was not unusual. People urinating and defacating outdoors were pictured regularly, outside an inn, for example, but generally as an inconspicuous detail and usually seen from the side or the back. Rembrandt took it further in his telling observation.
Rembrandt, A man making water, 1631
Etching, only state, 82 x 48 mm.
The Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam
Rembrandt, Woman reading, 1634
Etching, state II (3), 123 x 100 mm.
The Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam
The young woman does not seem to have noticed that Rembrandt was studying her. She is completely absorbed by the book she reads. She holds it close to her eyes and has tucked one hand under her jacket. An intimate gesture that did not escape Rembrandt. For him it was also a study in light and shade.
It is a little-known fact that in the nineteenth century Rembrandt was an icon for numerous French avant-garde artists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Great names such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Odilon Redon and Theodore Rousseau took Rembrandt and his work as their example. To them he was an anti-academic cult figure, an artist who shrugged off academic rules and captured the world around him with a fearless immediacy. Many French artists decided to start etching – as Rembrandt had – and there was a revival of the art form.
Rembrandt in Paris: Manet, Méryon, Degas and the Rediscovery of Etching (1830-90) opens on 21 September in The Rembrandt House Museum. This is the first exhibition ever devoted to the etching revival in France. The finest works of art will be brought together for the show: elegant French ladies, Parisian cityscapes, impressive landscapes and artistic posters.
Rembrandt: The Icon of the French Avant-Garde
‘Rembrandt in Paris’ runs from 21 September 2018
It is a little-known fact that in the nineteenth century Rembrandt was an icon for numerous French avant-garde artists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Great names such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Odilon Redon and Theodore Rousseau took Rembrandt and his work as their example. To them he was an anti-academic cult figure, an artist who shrugged off academic rules and captured the world around him with a fearless immediacy. Many French artists decided to start etching – as Rembrandt had – and there was a revival of the art form.
Rembrandt in Paris: Manet, Méryon, Degas and the Rediscovery of Etching (1830-90) opens on 21 September in The Rembrandt House Museum. This is the first exhibition ever devoted to the etching revival in France. The finest works of art will be brought together for the show: elegant French ladies, Parisian cityscapes, impressive landscapes and artistic posters.
“Hoe zien we Rembrandt terug in het werk van beroemde Franse kunstenaars? Daar gaat deze tentoonstelling over. Naast de usual suspects als Degas en Manet, willen we de bezoeker ook kennis laten maken met (in onze tijd) wellicht wat minder bekende kunstenaars als Charles Méryon en Félix Bracquemond, die sleutelfiguren in het Franse netwerk van kunstenaars waren. De tentoonstelling krijgt bovendien een lichte en frisse vormgeving, waardoor je je echt even op het Franse platteland of in hartje Parijs waant.”
– Lidewij de Koekkoek, directeur Museum Het Rembrandthuis
(Left) CharlesMéryon, Notre-Dame in Paris, 1854, etching, state 4 (8), 165 x 299 mm, Rijksmuseum. Gift of the Vroom-van Beers Family, Helmond | (Right) Edgar Degas, Woman Drying Herself after her Bath, 1891-1892, lithograph, 250 x 230 mm, Rijksmuseum. Purchase from the F.G. Waller-Fonds.
‘How is Rembrandt reflected in work by famous French artists? This is the focus of the exhibition. Aside from the usual suspects like Degas and Manet, we would like visitors to get to know artists like Charles Méryon and Félix Bracquemond, perhaps not as well known today, who were key figures in the French network of artists. The exhibition design is light and fresh, transporting you to the French countryside or the heart of Paris.’
– Lidewij de Koekkoek, Director, The Rembrandt House Museum
(Left) Rembrandt, The Three Trees, 1643, etching, drypoint and burin, only state, 213 x 279 mm., The Rembrandt House Museum. | (Right) Félix Bracquemond, Landscape with Approaching Thunderstorm and Geese in a Meadow, 1860-1914, etching, state 6 (11), 259 x 347 mm., Rijksmuseum. Purchase from the F.G. Waller-Fonds.
We can see an example of the direct influence Rembrandt’s etchings had in this work by Félix Bracquemond. The geese in his country landscape sense that rain is on the way, literally: a thunderstorm is approaching. The heavy clouds are emphasized by bright rays of sunlight. Bracquemond’s inspiration for this etching is unmistakable: he had seen Rembrandt’s famous etching of the three trees. There was an impression of this etching in the Print Room at the Louvre. Many artists visited this museum in the heart of Paris for inspiration.
Rembrandt in Paris: Manet, Méryon, Degas and the Rediscovery of Etching (1830-90) runs from 21 September 2018 to 6 January 2019 in The Rembrandt House Museum.
Rembrandt in Paris: Manet, Méryon, Degas and the Rediscovery of Etching (1830-90) is made possible by Gravin van Bylandt Stichting, Janssens Friesche Stichting and other foundations that wish to remain anonymous.
(Left) Norbert Goeneutte, Place de la Concorde, Paris, 1884-87. Etching and drypoint, 320 x 198 mm, private collection. (Right) Henri-Charles Guérard, Moon over Honfleur, c. 1890, oil on canvas, 30.2 x 84.5 cm, private collection.
Background Story: The Rembrandt Revival
The foundation of the French Academy in 1648 brought about a shift in attention to classical art. Rembrandt’s distinctive style did not sit well with the prevailing taste, particularly in France, but in the eighteen-thirties a number of French artists rebelled against the classical rules of the Academy. They discovered a renewed interest in Rembrandt. To them he was the ultimate example of a non-conformist artist who strove for realism and artistic innovation.
The artists of the Barbizon School studied his etchings in particular and were inspired by his use of chiaroscuro, his creation of several states of an etching and his experiments with different kinds of paper. This etching revival developed further in Paris, where Rembrandt’s influence is evident in works by many artists, from Charles Méryon to Odilon Redon.
The exhibitions Life/Time and Rembrandt Open Studio show old age in its many layers. From the viewpoint of Rembrandt and his followers, but also as seen by two contemporary artists making art live in the museum.
In times of corona, in which people have to keep distance from the elderly, we have to rely more on contact through our gaze. From 25 September to 29 November, The Rembrandt House Museum delivers an ode to the many-layered richness of old age, in two exhibitions. In Life/Time, Rembrandt’s etchings of old people are shown next to work by his pupil Abraham van Dijck and his great fan Aat Veldhoen. In the second exhibition room two recently graduated artists will install studios and make new work: Iriée Zamblé and Timothy Voges. With their own, individual perspective, they will look at the art of Rembrandt’s time and at the world around us. What does “old age” mean, actually?
Life/Time: Rembrandt, Abraham van Dijck and Aat Veldhoen Rembrandt was a keen and sympathetic observer – his renderings of old people are intimate, vulnerable, and at the same time powerful. They include old people dozing off in a chair. But we also see wise old men in their study chambers, or a spry old pancake baker. Life/Time shows works of art from the museum’s collection, such as etchings by Rembrandt, paintings by his pupil Abraham van Dijck and prints by the modern artist and Rembrandt fan Aat Veldhoen.
The high point of this collection exhibition is the latest acquisition of The Rembrandt House Museum: a small painting by Rembrandt pupil Abraham van Dijck. The museum purchased it last year at an auction. It is a depiction of an old man on the edge of falling asleep. Old people often served in seventeenth-century Dutch art as symbol for the transience of life. But this man is a painter, he holds a palette and brushes in his hand. The message here could be: life will end, but the painting will remain. Or otherwise: art triumphs over death.
Rembrandt Open Studio: Iriée Zamblé and Timothy Voges
Rembrandt’s house was a creative hub. Rembrandt did not namely work here alone: many pupils also made art here, sometimes even four or five at a time. Now, nearly 400 years later, we are bringing this back. A new generation of young artists will have the opportunity to name new work, with a contemporary viewpoint on the art of Rembrandt’s time and the world of today. This fall Iriée Zamblé and Timothy Voges will set up their studios in the gallery. They will reflect on the themes of the exhibition Life/Time: old age, transience, strength and vulnerability. Zamblé and Voges will at the same time be staying in the exhibition gallery and alternatively working and/or showing existing work – sometimes alone, sometimes together.
Iriée Zamblé (Amsterdam, 1995) makes painted tronies and portraits of black people. Her work is about representation, identity and presence. Of essence is that black people enjoy the space to be themselves and be busy with the stuff of everyday life. She draws inspiration from the people she encounters, often on the street.
The paintings of Timothy Voges (Willemstad, 1993) are cut out of found images from the media or older sources, where the context is missing. This leaves much open to interpretation. Potentially very random scenes sometimes appear eerie, vulnerable, voyeuristic or simply nostalgic. This depends on the viewer themselves.
