Rembrandt: Painter as Printmaker

    

The Denver Art Museum will be the sole venue for Rembrandt: Painter as Printmaker, which will showcase more than 100 prints, drawings, and paintings from Rembrandt van Rijn’s career spanning from 1625 to 1665.

Unforgettable images of biblical, portrait, allegory, still life, landscape, and genre artworks of the time demonstrate the mastery that cemented Rembrandt as one of the greatest artists in history. The exhibition will show how Rembrandt used his view of the world around him to fuel his artistic journey, and will give a deeper understanding of his working habits as an artist, and moreover, as a printmaker.

The exhibition will take a close look at Rembrandt’s innovative approach to printmaking that combined the three principle methods of intaglio, including etching, drypoint and engraving. New scholarship about the artist will be presented, revealing how Rembrandt intentionally varied the states of his prints, ink, and exotic papers to create rarities that he knew his clients desired, demonstrating how he deliberately manipulated his prints for marketing and storytelling purposes.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Image 1: Rembrandt van Rijn,  The Three Trees, 1643.  Etching, engraving and drypoint;  8.38 x 10.98 in.  Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Prints and Photography

Image 2:  Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait in a Cap, Wide-Eyed and Open-Mouthed, about 1630. Etching and drypoint; 2.09 x 1.81 in. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Prints and Photography

Whether you go or not, the sumptuously-illustrated exhibition catalog, Rembrandt: Painter as Printmaker, draws on new scholarship on Rembrandt’s etchings. Authors Jaco Rutgers and Timothy J. Standring examine the artist’s prints from many angles, revealing how he intentionally varied the states of his etchings, printed them on exotic papers, and retouched prints by hand to create rarities for a clientele that valued unique impressions.  As a pioneering printmaker, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) stood apart from his contemporaries thanks to his innovative approach to composition and his skillful rendering of space and light. He worked with the medium as a vehicle for artistic expression and experimentation, causing many to proclaim him the greatest etcher of all time. Moreover, the dissemination of the artist’s prints outside of the Dutch Republic during his lifetime contributed greatly to establishing Rembrandt’s reputation throughout Europe.

Select Rembrandt: Painter as Printmaker to learn more, or to place the catalog in your Amazon shopping cart. Your Amazon purchase through this link supports ArtGeek with a small commission.