FLLAC stages Rembrandt’s dramatic master prints

Marcella Veneziale Arts Editor

Grand Gestures: Celebrating Rembrandt commemorates not only the 400th anniversary of the well-known Dutch artist’s birth, but also honors the final year of Fran Fergusson’s presidency at Vassar. Rembrandt van Rijn’s etchings, along with two drawings, will be displayed from April 7 to June 11, concluding the academic year at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (FLLAC).

Nearly all the prints are part of the Felix M. Warburg print collection, and FLLAC Curator Patricia Phagan said that the collection contains 174 pieces, mostly by Rembrandt, Albrecht Dürer, and James M. Whistler.

The exhibit title refers to the theatrical composition of the Rembrandt works. The exhibit is organized into roughly three categories: religious subjects, nocturnal scenes, and portraits from daily life. The works within each of these categories respond to Rembrandt’s interest in human facial expressions and drama. “Self-Portrait” (1630), a tentative and experimental scribble of an etching, captures the artist in a mock-surprise pose. This miniscule print has gained fame as the signature piece of the museum at Rembrandt’s House in Amsterdam. Other studies of different facial expressions show Rembrandt’s attention to accurate reproduction of gesture.

Rembrandt etched many of the exhibit prints in the 1650s, when he demonstrated an increased interest in the effects of light and dark in nocturnal scenes. As a result of using incredibly fine, overlaid cross-hatching, dark areas assume a tactile, velvet quality.

The FLLAC not only shows his 1650s print “Star of the Kings,” but also displays it in conjunction with the original image, etched into a copper plate. “Star of the Kings” city scene describes the top of a lantern in a room at Christmas, which resolves into the shape of a star.
“Adoration of the Shepherds,” also from the 1650s, combines Rembrandt’s keen eye for facial expression with his motif of rich, black darkness. As shepherds and animals gather to admire the newborn Christ, the night cloaks the unidealized portraits of the spectators. In another 1650s nocturne, “Circumcision in the Stable,” slashing lines represent darkness, and individualized portraits complete the scene. These weighty works contrast the lighter, fine strokes rendered in “Strolling Musicians,” (ca. 1629-1631), which depicts a group of poor street performers.

Several prints show different techniques that have visionary effects. The early work “Death of the Virgin” (1639) is a grand, ambitious print that uses metaphor to juxtapose the spiritual and earthly worlds. The scene is packed with figures: the dead Virgin Mary who attracts women and children mourners, a doctor who feels for her pulse, and possibly Rembrandt himself peeking at the scene from between parted curtains.

Rembrandt’s “Faust” (1652) etching depicts a scholar surrounded by books and a globe, and was inspired by Christopher Marlowe’s 1650 production of Dr. Faust in Amsterdam theaters. In “Medea,” the artist depicts a performance of the play Medea contemporary to his times. Later, in 1647, the wealthy merchant playwright of Medea, Jan Six, would sit for his own Rembrandt portrait.

Landscapes complete the exhibit and continue the theme of theatricality. Rembrandt’s recognizable “Three Trees” (1643) has religious overtones of another exhibition image, “The Three Crosses” (1653), in which he conveys melodrama through the unstable atmosphere of the work. Sunlight illuminates the trees, but darkness envelopes the foreground, and a rain storm threatens the otherwise tranquil scene. “The Three Crosses” is on loan from New York’s David Tunick Gallery, and Phagan described first seeing the print as a “tremendously beautiful impression.” She also said that the FLLAC exhibit was a “great opportunity to show [the] print.”

Phagan emphasized that these works showcase Rembrandt’s theatricality. This theme has never been the subject of a major exhibition, and lectures throughout the exhibit’s run will further explore this topic. Case Western Reserve Professor Catherine B. Scallen will lecture on Rembrandt as the last Renaissance artist on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. in Taylor 203, following the 5 p.m. opening reception in the gallery.