Carnegie Museum of Art Shows ~ Rembrandt’s Great Subjects ~

Written by Javier Kielbasa Wednesday, 01 June 2011 22:34

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - In honor of Rembrandt’s 400th birthday, an exceptional selection of the master’s etchings will be on view at Carnegie Museum of Art from November 4, 2006 through February 11, 2007.   Rembrandt’s Great Subjects: Prints from the Collection showcases 60 etchings from the museum’s collection of the artist’s work, displays his renowned printmaking skills, and examines some of his most famous motifs: self-portraiture, portraiture, religion, mythology, landscape, genre scenes, and figure studies.  Rembrandt’s evolutionary portrayal of these themes is examined in great depth through the presentation of works from the 1630s, 1640s and 1650s—three fascinating decades from his long and illustrious career.

“Celebrating Carnegie Museum of Art’s tremendous collection of Rembrandt’s etchings, in all its strength and depth, is an exciting way to pay tribute to this world-renowned artist,” says Amanda Zehnder, the museum’s assistant curator of fine arts and the organizer of the exhibition.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden, the Netherlands, on July 15, 1606, to a wealthy miller and his wife.  In 1621, Rembrandt embarked upon a three-year apprenticeship with Jacob Isaacszoon van Swanenburgh, a painter famous for his intense religious scenes and his ability to render dramatic lighting.  He went on to train with Pieter Lastman, an artist also known for the depiction of religious and historical subject matter.  In 1625, Rembrandt began his independent career and painted his earliest known dated painting, The Stoning of St. Sebastian.  It is estimated that one year later, in 1626, the young and talented artist made his first etchings, although his earliest dated prints are inscribed 1628.  By the 1630s, he was living in Amsterdam and was in the early stages of a highly successful career as an artist and art teacher.

From the beginning of his career, Rembrandt’s skill as an etcher was as respected as his skill as a painter, and today many consider him to be one of the most brilliant practitioners of the etching medium.  This acclaim at least partially results from Rembrandt’s penetrating interest in evoking and depicting human emotion.  In order to capture the emotional potency of his subjects, Rembrandt pushed the art of etching in innovative directions.  The prints in this exhibition demonstrate the evolution of Rembrandt’s style and methodology, and the innovation of his techniques can be seen in the astonishing detail of his etchings.

Rembrandt, who was exceptionally gifted at drawing, was suited to the art of wielding an etching needle.  Appreciation for his astonishing skill is evident in the intense interest in collecting his prints even early in his career.  The popularity of Rembrandt’s etchings reflects their rich complexity and the highly personal responses they generate.  Rembrandt’s Great Subjects: Prints from the Collection is divided into six categories:

Portraits and Character Studies
Rembrandt’s portrait etchings often relied on patronage, and those patrons were willing to spend large sums for his etched portraits.  Beyond the commissioned portraits, there are two primary sub-groups of Rembrandt’s portraits: those of family members and those that are sometimes labeled as character studies.  Character studies resemble portraits, but the subject has no known identity and may be imaginary.

Mythology
The two prints classified as “mythology” in this exhibition are generally accepted as depictions of Jupiter and Antiope.  Beyond any thematic reference, these prints function on a more basic level as non-idealized figure studies of the female nude.

Religion
Rembrandt’s ability to produce an intense sense of drama through chiaroscuro and composition is displayed in his religious-themed etchings.  These works are often theatrically narrative and focus on emotional states conveyed through gesture and facial expression.  Rembrandt’s inspiration for these etchings comes from several sources, including art historical traditions, his own extensive library of works by other artists, and finally, his direct observations of life and nature.  One can often sense that his religious prints are a display of tension between the persistence of traditional conventions and his own inclination toward creativity and interpretation.

Landscapes
Landscape was a relatively new genre in 17th century Dutch printmaking, and Rembrandt did not begin to produce landscape etchings until the 1640s.  Many of the prints contain imaginary details combined with observed natural scenes.  Often, Rembrandt’s landscapes are reflections on the union of highly detailed foreground features and broad background vistas characteristic of the topography surrounding Amsterdam.  The prints are composed of numerous, intricate details that require close examination on the part of the viewer.

Self-Portraiture
Very few artists explored the genre of self-portraiture as deeply as Rembrandt.  His self-portraits reflect his interest in emotional expression and in the projection of a range of artistic personas.  In many of the early self-portraits produced prior to 1639 and seen in this exhibition, Rembrandt seemed interested in projecting a bold, confident artistic image of himself. 

Beggars, Street Scenes, Figure Studies, and Genre Scenes
This fascinating selection of Rembrandt’s work contains scenes of daily life, figure studies, secular subject matter, and images that are difficult to categorize.  Of note in this section is the artist’s celebrated series of beggars, street musicians, and depictions of modest street life in Dutch cities.

CMA invites folks of all ages to a party in celebration of Rembrandt’s 400th birthday.  Participants will discover the artist’s range of techniques and themes in the exhibition Rembrandt’s Great Subjects: Prints from the Collection.  They will also meet with the curator in the gallery, watch a demonstration of Rembrandt’s hallmark printmaking techniques, and design hats inspired by those in Rembrandt’s self-portraits.  Finally, they will learn a Dutch birthday song and try Dutch treats in the Carnegie Café.

Carnegie Museum of Art

Located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh and founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1895, Carnegie Museum of Art, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is nationally and internationally recognized for its distinguished collection of American and European works of art from the 16th century to the present.  The Heinz Architectural Center, part of Carnegie Museum of Art, is dedicated to the collection, study, and exhibition of architectural drawings and models.  For more information about Carnegie Museum visit our web site at www.carnegiemuseums.org