Seventeenth-century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn might have extra identify recognition than close toly any other European artist, his popularity due largely to what artwork historian Alison McQueen identifies in her guide of the identical identify as “the rise of the cult of Rembrandt.” Popular Rembrandt veneration introduced us within the twentieth century such corpocharge appropriations of the painter’s legacy as Rembrandt toothpaste and money market agency Rembrandt Funds (particularly ironic, “given the notoriety of Rembrandt’s financial institutionruptcy in 1656”). “In contemporary popular culture,” writes McQueen, “Rembrandt’s identify has such resonance that the topline of an article within the New York Occasions Magazineazine in 1995 referred to the stylish barber Franky Avila as ‘the Rembrandt of Barbers.’”
By invoking Rembrandt’s identify, the creator knew his learners would underneathstand that this connection implies that Avila’s talent with a razor equals that of Rembrandt’s together with his paintbrush or etching needle… even when a learner has never actually seen any work by Rembrandt.
Certainly, although any person on the road will likely know the artist’s identify, most could be hard-pressed to call any of his paintings, besides perhaps his well-known self-portraits, which have adorned t‑shirts, posters, and iPhone cases. I may not have identified far more about Rembrandt than these self-portraits both had I not lived in Washington, DC, the place I had free entry to a lot of his paintings on the National Gallery of Artwork. The Dutch master was astonishingly professionallific, painting, drawing, and etching hundreds of portraits of himself and his patrons, in addition to hundreds of nonetheless lifes, landscapes, scenes from mythology, and plenty of, many Biblical subjects.
Nowadays, you may see Rembrandt’s paintings totally free on-line, whether or not from the National Gallery of Artwork’s collection, that of the National Gallery in London, or of the Dutch Rijksmuseum. And for another aspect of his genius, now you can go to the web site of New York’s Morgan Library and Museum, who’ve digitized “virtually 500 pictures from the Morgan’s exceptional collection of Rembrandt etchings,” celebrating his “unsurhanded talent and inventiveness as a master storyteller.” There are, after all, plenty of self-portraits, just like the 1630 “Self Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed” on the high of the put up, and there are portraits of others, like that of the artist’s mother, above, from 1633. There are religious scenes just like the 1655 “Abraham’s Sacrifice” under, and landscapes like “The Three Timber,” further down, from 1643.
These are the 4 foremost categories that the Morgan makes use of to organize this impressive collection, however you’ll additionally discover there extra humble, domestic subjects, just like the 1640 “Sleeping Puppy,” under. Writes Hyperallergic, “The Morgan holds in its collection many of the toughly 300 identified etchings by Rembrandt, including uncommon, multiple versions (therefore the discrepancy in number of etchings versus number of pictures.)” Like his excessively accomplished paintings, Rembrandt’s etchings “are well-known for his or her dramatic intensity, penetrating psychology, and contacting humanity,” in addition to, after all, for the additionalordinary talent with which the artist made these artworks. Due to the “cult of Rembrandt,” everyone knows the artist’s identify and reputation; now, due to digital collections from National Galleries, the Rijksmuseum, and now the Morgan, we are able to turn out to be specialists in his work as effectively. Enter the Morgan collection of sketches right here.
Observe: Observe: An earlier version of this put up appeared on our web site in 2015.
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Josh Jones is a author and musician primarily based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
