The Mower Collection Selected Etchings Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn July 15, 1607 – October 4, 1669 By: Azure Green, Yi-Wen Wei, Laura Saladin, Arielle O’Hara, Annie Booth, & Jasmine Van Weelden Music by Dirck Scholl (1641-1727) Rembrandt van Rijn Biography • July 15, 1606: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden, Holland. • 1619: Rembrandt was apprenticed to Jacob van Swanenburgh, a Dutch master painter who had painted in Italy, studying the Renaissance masters. • Mid 1620s: Rembrandt became an independent painter. • 1629: At the age of 23, Rembrandt began etching. • 1634: Rembrandt married Saskia Rembrandt Leaning on a Stone Wall 1639 van Uylenburgh. They had four Etching children together. 20.7 x 13.4 cm (8.1 x 5.3 in) Rembrandt van Rijn Biography • 1641: Rembrandt’s son, Titus, was born. He was the only child that lived until adulthood and became a model for Rembrandt’s artwork. Saskia died of tuberculosis the same year. • 1643: Rembrandt employed Geertje Dircks as the nanny for his son Titus, and Rembrandt began a relationship with her. Stoning of St. Stephen • 1647: Rembrandt hired 1625 Hendrickje Stoffels as a Oil on panel maidservant. Within a few years, 123.6 x 89.5 cm (48.7 x 35.2 in) they began a longtime affair. She Rembrandt’s earliest recorded painting, became his model for many of shows a self-portrait, his first of many to the female figures in his artwork. come. They had a child. Rembrandt van Rijn Biography • Ca. 1649: Geertje Dircks charged Rembrandt with a breach of promise. • 1660: Hendrickje and Titus transferred the control of Rembrandt’s affairs to relieve him of all financial control, leaving him to paint freely, and with Titus as universal heir. Return of the Prodigal Son • October 4, 1669: 1636 Etching Rembrandt died of natural 16 x 14 cm (6.3 x 5.5 in) causes at the age of 63. Rembrandt’s last work before he died was on the subject of the prodigal son. He painted, drew and etched this subject a number of times. Printmaking • Prints, unlike one-of-a-kind paintings, are multiple originals. • Each print produced is not considered a “copy” but rather an “original.” • Prints in color require two or more matrices, which are individual plates for each color. Red matrix in multicolored print. • One matrix for each color, when printed sequentially on top of each other, produces the final work of art. Numbering Today’s Prints In contemporary printmaking, artists usually number their prints. The number may appear as a fraction. For example, 55/1000 means this particular print is number 55 of 1000 prints made. Numbering Rembrandt’s Prints • In Rembrandt’s era, however, prints were not numbered in this way. • Rembrandt’s etchings are identified by Bartsch numbers, named for Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch (1757-1821) who catalogued Rembrandt’s prints. Self-Portrait Adam Bartsch 1785 Types of Prints Relief: Intaglio: Planographic: Stencil: ink is applied to the image is printing from a flat ink or paint is the protruding incised into a surface. pressed surface of the surface, and the through a matrix (the plate incised line or prepared that contains the sunken area holds screen. design of the the ink (opposite print). of a relief print). Etching • Technique of the intaglio family (the image is incised into a surface, and the incised line or sunken area holds the ink). • Prints are generally linear and often contain fine detail. • Etching is often combined with other intaglio techniques like drypoint. The Raising of Lazarus 1632 Etching with drypoint and burin 38.7 x 26.8 cm (15.2 x 10.5 in) Drypoint • Technique of the intaglio family. • Images are incised onto a plate with a "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. • Lines produced by drypoint create a burr or pushed up edge allowing the incisions to catch more ink compared to an etched line. • Incisions are made by removing Diamond point used to engrave metal to form depressions in the image into copper plate. plate surface which hold ink. • Acid is not used in this technique. Etching Process All forms of printmaking are based on the same principle: copying an image from a matrix onto a surface. Etching Process 1. A metal plate is covered with a ground, made up of wax, resin, and/or other material. Etching Process 2. An etching needle is used to draw the design into the ground. Etching Process 3. The plate is placed into an acidic bath, where the acid bites the exposed lines from the drawing. Etching Process 4. After the plate is cleaned of its ground and acidic residue, the matrix is coated with ink. Excess ink is removed, leaving the ink inside the etched lines. Etching Process 5. The image is printed by placing the inked matrix underneath paper or fabric. The ink is transferred using either a roller or a hand press. Rembrandt’s Styles and Influences • Studied multiple subjects, including history, rhetorical gestures, people and their reality. • Often observed his subjects while creating his artwork. • Etching themes: portrait, genre, landscape, historical, biblical, mythological, and nude. The Pancake Woman 1635 Etching 10.9 x 7.9 cm (4 1/8 x 3 1/8 in) Rembrandt’s Styles and Influences • Never went abroad, but surveyed works of Northern artists who had lived in Italy. • Notable artistic influences: Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, and Gerrit van Honthorst. Descent by Torchlight 1654 Etching and drypoint on laid paper 21 x 16.2 cm (8 1/4 x 6 3/8 in) Rembrandt’s Styles and Influences • Earliest documented etching, 1628: elderly woman believed to be his mother. An Elderly Woman (Rembrandt’s Mother, • Later etchings: more head and bust) 1628 spatially open. Etching and drypoint • Mother: Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, better known as Cornelia. • Close relationship with his mother and other women featured in his works. • Etching realistically captures mother’s age and expression through lines. The Artist’s Mother 1629 – 1633 Etching on paper 6.8 x 6.7cm (2 11/16 x 2 5/8 in) • Blended Catholic and then contemporary secular deathbed scenes. • Dramatic Baroque style. • Possibly influenced by Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin (1604-1606). • Virgin shown at death, rather than Catholic view of live assumption. • Inclusion of celestial realm above deathbed scene. Death of the Virgin 1639 Etching and drypoint 49 x 32 cm (16 3/8 x 12 1/2 in) • Marriage portraits popular in 16th and 17th centuries. • Only etching in which Rembrandt portrayed himself with wife, Saskia. • Etching made after two years of marriage. • Put emphasis on light and spatial quality. • Darker lines: closer to viewer. • Lighter lines: farther from Self Portrait with Saskia viewer. 1636 Etching 10.7 x 9.5 cm (4.2 x 3.7 in) • Dutch landscape: popular theme during Rembrandt’s lifetime. • After 1640, his etchings influenced by effects of painting. • Spatial depth created by chiaroscuro, contrasting effects of extreme dark and light values. Cottage with a White Paling c. 1648 • Date of print uncertain; Etching and drypoint possibly 1648. 13 x 15.8 cm (5.1 x 6.2 in) • Printed on Japanese paper. • Cat on left: symbolizes laziness. • Snake under Virgin’s foot: symbolizes defeat of trickery. • Glass window creates halo: signifies mother’s divinity. • Joseph separated by window: signifies Virgin and Child With Cat and Snake relationship as 1654 husband rather than Etching father of child. 25.4 x 35.6 cm (10 x 14 in) • Etching illustrated book called The History of the World Through the Lens of Navigation. • Eighty Years War between Dutch and Spanish occurring at the time print was made. • Etching displayed symbols referencing The Ship of Fortune public’s desire for 1633 peace. Etching 12 x 17.3 cm (4.7 x 6.8 in) Legacy of Rembrandt • Works owned by influential historical leaders across Europe, for example, Charles I of England and Cosimo III de’Medici of Italy. • Inspired especially 17th to 19th century artists, such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696 – 1770) and Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732 – 1806). Self-Portrait 1659 Oil on canvas 84.5 x 66 cm (33 3/10 x 26 in) Legacy of Rembrandt • After death, copper plates passed through many hands. • Plates altered and printed posthumously by numerous owners. • Some plates inked and lacquered to avoid any further changes or prints in 1916. • Etchings reside in multiple public collections, including The Detail: Self-Portrait Metropolitan Museum of Art in New 1669 Oil on canvas York City, The National Gallery in 86 x 70.5 cm (33.9 x 27.8 in) London, and the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts The Mower Collection Dr. Tobia Mower & Dr. Morton Mower Selected Etchings .