Rembrandt: The Painter Thinking, by Ernst van de Wetering

Historians of Netherlandish Art Newsletter and Review of Books, 2004

(review) Ernst van de Wetering and Bernhard Schackenburg, eds., The Mystery of the Young Rembrandt. [Cat. exh. Staatliche Museen Kassel, November 3, 2001-January 27, 2002; Museum het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, February 20-May 26, 2002.] Wolfratshausen: Edition Minerva, 2001

AICA Magazine, 2024

The renewed interest in this painter, engraver, draftsman, womanizer, fighter, debtor and genius native of the Netherlands is evident, so the question that is rightly asked is: Who is Rembrandt today? The art critic, Juan Carlos Flores Zúñiga, examines the life and work of the Dutch artist based on his creative legacy.

2018

The year 1650 has been seen to mark Rembrandt's transition from an outgoing ("Baroque") phase to a more profound and more personal artistry. Looking closely at his production of that year, it emerges that all of the paintings said to have been made by him in 1650 are now downgraded to the status of workshop productions or later imitations. Yet these are the paintings that established Rembrandt's reputation as a painter who enlarged the scope of art itself. The implications of this paradox are discussed.

Looking at Rembrandt's self-portraits we follow the course of his artistic development, which clearly reflects three significant stages of the artist's life. But can these stages be applied to the life of any man? We ask this question because of the main problem discussed in this article – the problem of the essence, which Rembrandt fulfilled in his work. In general, the topics, Rembrandt undertakes, concern the ethos, and similarly in his self-portraits we encounter the ethos of an adolescent, mature and elderly man.

2008

"How did painters and their public speak about art in Rembrandt’s age? This book about the writings of the painter-poet Samuel van Hoogstraten, one of Rembrandt’s pupils, examines a wide variety of themes from painting practice and theory from the Dutch Golden Age. It addresses the contested issue of ‘Dutch realism’ and its hidden symbolism, as well as Rembrandt’s concern with representing emotions in order to involve the spectator. Diverse aspects of imitation and illusion come to the fore, such as the theory behind sketchy or ‘rough’ brushwork and the active role played by the viewer’s imagination. Taking as its starting point discussions in Rembrandt’s studio, this unique study provides an overview of Dutch artists’ ideas on painting. The Visible World was awarded the Jan van Gelder Prize in 2009. Reviews: Jan Blanc in Simiolus 33/4 (2007-8), Amy Golahny in Sehepunkte 10 (2010), nr. 6., Bram de Klerck in NRC Handelsblad, 13 February 2009. "

In October 2014 the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum in Budapest opened the large and ambitious exhibition Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age, with 195 displays, mainly paintings. It was accompanied by a correspondingly large, magnificently printed 606-page catalogue. Preceding the entries are five essays, one of which I wrote and which with the kind permission of the museum I make available on academia.edu. Gary Schwartz, "The meanings of Rembrandt," in exhib. cat. Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age, Budapest (Szépmüvészeti Múzeum) 2014, pp. 36-57

the low countries, 2020

What unusual materials did Rembrandt paint with? What did his social network and love life look like? And what do we know about his early years? Thanks to the many exhibitions, events and conferences organized in 2019, marking the 350th anniversary of his death, we gained new insights about one of the greatest Dutch painters.

Print Quarterly, 1988