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Faces: Meet the Rembrandts
Faces: Meet the Rembrandts
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. Known as Rembrandt, he is one of the greatest visual artists of all time.
Alongside his career as a painter, Rembrandt was an experimental and creative printmaker. He made printed images of religious themes, landscapes, and people, including many of himself. They give an insight into his personality and his humanity.
Rembrandt's skill and innovation as a printmaker made him famous in his lifetime. His experimental techniques still influence how etchings are made today.
On display here are a small number of original Rembrandt prints from Brighton & Hove Museums' collection. Also included are some later copies of Rembrandt prints. Replicated by highly-skilled craftsmen in the 17th - 19th centuries, these copies are rare and beautiful in their own right.
Spotting a genuine Rembrandt print is a tricky business!
With research ongoing, some attributions and titles have changed over the years.
The raising of Lazarus: the small plate
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
The raising of Lazarus is a Biblical theme that both Rembrandt and Lievens depicted more than once. By coincidence, Rembrandt once owned the painting The Raising of Lazarus by Jan Lievens that you can see here at Brighton Museum. It is displayed just beyond the Fine Art gallery.
The first oriental head is one of three etchings in a series of
'oriental' heads that Rembrandt made. They are after etchings by Lievens, although are not exact copies.
The term 'oriental' is used here to construct an exotic fantasy rather than to refer to a person from a specific location.
The first oriental head
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt (after Jan Lievens)
As a 14-year-old at university in Leiden, Rembrandt befriended fellow child artist Jan Lievens. The two young artists were constantly competing and inspiring each other.
Christ before Pilate: larger plate
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
This was one of only two larger prints that Rembrandt claimed copyright for.
Peter and John at the gate of the temple
Attributed to Rembrandt
Rembrandt was brought up as a Calvinist Protestant Reformer and created works based on Christian religious themes throughout his career.
Jacob caressing Benjamin (formerly known as Abraham caressing Isaac)
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmail
After Rembrandt
Children appear infrequently in Rembrandt's etchings.
His own experience of parenthood was fraught with sadnesses. He and his wife Saskia lost 3 infant children, a boy and two girls, before having Titus. Rembrandt outlived Titus, who died aged 27. Rembrandt and Hendrickje Stoffels had a daughter called Cornelia.
Christ preaching (The Hundred Guilder print)
Bookplate reproduction after original by Rembrandt
This nickname 'Hundred Guilder print' reflects the extraordinarily high price it was sold for. Unfortunately, despite successfully marketing and selling his work Rembrandt made some unfortunate life choices.
These ultimately cost him his home, possessions, and all his money.
The descent from the cross by torchlight
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Christ at Emmaus: larger plate
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
In 1654-55 Rembrandt created more Christian religious artwork than he did at any other time.
Landscape with a cow (reverse copy)
After Rembrandt
The Windmill (reverse copy)
After Rembrandt
Landscape with a cottage and haybarn (reverse copy)
After Rembrandt
Self portrait drawing at a window
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Throughout his life, Rembrandt created over 30 etched self portraits.
He often portrays himself looking directly at the viewer through a mirror.
Rembrandt presents himself here in a matter-of-fact way. He is a forty-two-year-old artist at work, with an etching needle or pen in hand.
Left: Head of the artist (detail from sheet of studies including head of the artist, an old couple, heads of an old man and an old woman)
Attributed to Rembrandt
Right: Self portrait in a flat cap and embroidered dress
Attributed to Rembrandt
Rembrandt started etching in his early twenties and experimented with ways to capture a mood with light and shade. In both of these images Rembrandt has portrayed himself with a bright light falling only on one side of his face; now known as 'Rembrandt lighting.
Left: Saskia as St Catherine
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Centre: Studies of the head of Saskia and others
Attributed to Rembrandt
Right: Self portrait with Saskia
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
These etchings portray Saskia Uylenbugh, Rembrandt's wife. The couple were married in 1634, but tragically, 13 years later Saskia died, probably of tuberculosis.
Rembrandt was utterly devastated by her death.
Later, Rembrandt went on to have two other significant relationships. The first was with Geertje Direx, the second was with Hendrickje Stoffels.
Three prints of the Artist's Mother
Attributed to/and/or after Rembrandt
Here are three versions of the same subject - Rembrandt's mother:
Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck. The third image is reversed, this means that it was probably copied from an existing print.
Left: An old woman sleeping
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Centre: An old man's head (detail from sheet of studies including head of the artist, an old couple, heads of an old man and an old woman)
Attributed to Rembrandt
Right: Studies of men's heads (detail)
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Rembrandt delighted in capturing facial features - especially of characterful, older people. He produced a series of prints known as 'tronies'; a name which comes from an old, rough translation for 'faces'. A tronie is a type of work that studies an exaggerated characteristic or expression. Many of Rembrandt's tronies feature his own face, but he also created studies of other people's faces that he found interesting.
Left: Sheet of studies including head of the artist, an old couple, heads of an old man and an old woman
Attributed to Rembrandt
Right: The rat catcher (The rat poison peddler)
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Rembrandt seemed to have an affinity for capturing the lives of people in the streets around him.
The rat catcher is the first etching in which Rembrandt works some of his studies of people living in poverty into a full-scale scene.
Left: Woman leaning on a stick
Attributed to/or after Rembrandt
Right: Woman with a gourd
Attributed to Rembrandt
Jan Cornelis Sylvius, the preacher (reverse copy)
After Rembrandt
This is a copy of a Rembrandt print showing the Amsterdam preacher Jan Cornelis Sylvius. Sylvius was a relative of Rembrandt's wife Saskia, and he was the godfather of their first child.
Portrait of Abraham Francen
Attributed to Rembrandt
Francen was Rembrandt's good friend and the guardian of his daughter Cornelia.
The art collector is shown in this print surrounded by books and artworks.
The altarpiece alludes to his spirituality. The highlighted skull suggests the transience of earthly things.
Faust
Bookplate reproduction after original by Rembrandt
The exact subject of this print remains a mystery as the title 'Faust' is a later and somewhat tenuous attribution. The symbolism alludes to spirituality and science.
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