This exhibit, which I saw in Cleveland and is now in Minneapolis, is well worth traveling to see. It represents the largest collection of Rembransts to ever be exhibited in the United States. Rembrandt was painting shortly after the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, so his work is contemporary with the very early days of American settlement. He is astonishing as a craftsman, and the exhibit showcases that. The biggest of his works are not here--for that you have to go to Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam--but this is an impressive assembly of his work.
Why go? It is the volume and variety of paintings that sets this exhibit apart. Amidst the dozens of paintings collected for "Rembrandt in America" it is unavoidable to be astonished by the beauty and the power of the pictures. The portraits are almost 400 years old but they are so vibrant they almost shimmer. The subjects stare out into the room. The effect of those ancient eyes is emotionally unsettling, in a good way.
While I was in the museum in Cleveland, I was reminded of the movie 'Maiden Heist'. Even the museum guards are wowed by this exhibit. My mother and I were waiting for my father to catch up with, and I was chatting with a guard--he spent almost a half an hour recounting the history of the exhibit, how it was put together, the three paintings that were in the Cleveland Art Museum's collection, and various things about paintings that we were looking at that were questionable in terms of who painted them--Rembrandt, Rembrandt's studio and students, or someone copying Rembrandt's style. The exhibit is very educational about how to view Rembrandts, what sorts of details he is known for, and why there is so much controversy about the provenance of paintings he may or may not have painted. You leave the exhibit knowing more than you entered it wih, and the number and quality of the paintings is nothing short of magnificent. Don't miss this, wherever you are.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Rembrandt in America
This exhibit, which I saw in Cleveland and is now in Minneapolis, is well worth traveling to see. It represents the largest collection of Rembransts to ever be exhibited in the United States. Rembrandt was painting shortly after the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, so his work is contemporary with the very early days of American settlement. He is astonishing as a craftsman, and the exhibit showcases that. The biggest of his works are not here--for that you have to go to Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam--but this is an impressive assembly of his work.
Why go? It is the volume and variety of paintings that sets this exhibit apart. Amidst the dozens of paintings collected for "Rembrandt in America" it is unavoidable to be astonished by the beauty and the power of the pictures. The portraits are almost 400 years old but they are so vibrant they almost shimmer. The subjects stare out into the room. The effect of those ancient eyes is emotionally unsettling, in a good way.
While I was in the museum in Cleveland, I was reminded of the movie 'Maiden Heist'. Even the museum guards are wowed by this exhibit. My mother and I were waiting for my father to catch up with, and I was chatting with a guard--he spent almost a half an hour recounting the history of the exhibit, how it was put together, the three paintings that were in the Cleveland Art Museum's collection, and various things about paintings that we were looking at that were questionable in terms of who painted them--Rembrandt, Rembrandt's studio and students, or someone copying Rembrandt's style. The exhibit is very educational about how to view Rembrandts, what sorts of details he is known for, and why there is so much controversy about the provenance of paintings he may or may not have painted. You leave the exhibit knowing more than you entered it wih, and the number and quality of the paintings is nothing short of magnificent. Don't miss this, wherever you are.
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