Rare Rembrandt Rembrandt as Printmaker Essay Example For Students

Rare Rembrandt Rembrandt as Printmaker Essay Several hundred years after he lived and worked,  Rembrandt  remains a celebrity of single-name status; chances are that several hundred years from now his work will endure while that of, say, Yanni might not. Of  Rembrandt  van Rijns 290 etchings, 85 are currently on view, along with additional prints of the era, at UVMs Fleming Museum. The touring exhibition, Rembrandt  and the Art of Etching, has already been seen by perhaps a million viewers in South America, but Burlington is its only North American stop. Afterwards the works will return to the place where most were created:  Rembrandts own home, now the  Rembrandt  House Museum in Amsterdam. The exhibition offers Vermonters an exclusive opportunity to see many of the 17th-century Dutch masters most important works. Reached by phone in Boston last week,  Rembrandt  House curator Dr. Bob van den Boogert was asked, Why Burlington? his answer was simple: Janie Cohen. The Fleming Museum director is the co-author of Etched on the Memory The Presence of  Rembrandt  in the Prints of Goya and Picasso, and much of her research was done in Amsterdam. Cohen has also contributed writings to the  Rembrandt  House. So bringing this historic collection of etchings to Burlington was a natural choice for her Dutch colleague. Van den Boogert will give a talk on  Rembrandt  at the Fleming this Thursday. The exhibition comprises a wide range of subjects, including at least eight self-portraits. In the earliest,  Rembrandt  was in his twenties. The best-known is probably Self Portrait, Leaning on a Stone Sill from 1639. At 33,  Rembrandt  appears an almost foppish young man, as cocky as DArtagnan from The Three Musketeers. But thats an external view. The artists inner world is what makes the show so intriguing, and the medium of etching provides the perfect platform for viewing it. Rembrandt  sold thousands of copies of etchings in his lifetime, and was probably better known for those works than for his paintings. His technical bag of tricks was second to none, and that virtuosity enabled him to exercise the full range of his expressive powers. Insight into  Rembrandts creative process can been seen in the two states of The Three Crosses presented in this exhibition. Figures have been added and removed between the two states, both created on the same copper plate. He also altered his composition by manipulating light and shadow. Another religious print, Christ Healing the Sick from about 1649, illustrates two technical steps in the etching process. A slick ground was applied to the plate, and that ground was drawn through in a very direct way. When etched, the exposed metal created relatively soft lines to be inked. Then  Rembrandt  cleaned and dried the plate before scratching contrasting lines directly into the metal to add finer details to areas such as hands, toes and clothing. Christ Healing the Sick is arguably  Rembrandts most famous etching, and it figures prominently in the artists lore. It is also known as the Hundred Guilder Print, and several explanations have been proffered for that curious moniker. In 1755 a French art dealer said that  Rembrandt  traded an impression of it for an Italian print worth 100 guilders. Another unlikely story is that  Rembrandt  repurchased a copy of the print for that exorbitant sum. Recent scholarship has unearthed a 1654 letter to the bishop of Bruges from a contemporary artist that  Rembrandts prints had sold for 100 guilders on several occasions. That kind of popularity made him a wealthy man, at least for awhile. The Shell (Cornus Marmoreus) of 1650 suggests one reason  Rembrandt  went bankrupt in 1658. Van den Boogert explains that something as exotic as a Cornus Marmoreus shell would have cost the price of a house in Amsterdam. It was practically a 17th-century moon rock, and The Shell   Rembrandts only etching still life was drawn from a specimen in his extensive collection of baubles and fine art. He had also gotten into the almost-unheard-of habit of creating prints for his own enjoyment rather than specifically for sale. The Shell and The Hundred Guilder Print may have been such works. .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .postImageUrl , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:hover , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:visited , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:active { border:0!important; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:active , .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud3b16866a5186c774d00b5dd391fce1d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Rembrandt EssayEvery piece in this exhibition is notable, but one of the most fascinating is the 1652 print called Faust in most sources. Goethe popularized the story of Dr. Faustus 150 years after  Rembrandts death, so, as van den Boogert suggests, that identification is not undisputed. The alternative title, Practicing Alchemist, is probably more accurate. Either way, the print may indicate that  Rembrandt  had an interest in Jewish mysticism. His opulent Great Jewish Bride print of 1635 appeared one year after his own marriage, and many of his closest friends and patrons were Jews.  Rembrandt  and his wife Saskia also lived in Amsterdams vibrant Jewish quarter . Only one print, a commissioned portrait, is known to have been produced between 1660 and the artists death in October 1669. Like many of his late works, the self-portraits of his final years were moody and introspective. This can be seen in his self-portrait from age 42, in which the artist holds an etching needle to assiduously trace his own aging features. He is wearing plainer clothes than in younger years, and sits in a dark room with only one light source an open window to his right. That  Rembrandt  is the man who became immortal.