Rembrandt in America - Cleveland Museum of Art

Self Portrait 1659

I caught the tail end of the "Rembrandt in America" exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art so that I could catch the very beginning of the Henry Ossawa Tanner "Modern Spirit" show at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  To see the paintings in the "Rembrandt in America" show, click here.

Both shows were fantastic.

The focus of the "Rembrandt in America" exhibition was to bring together Rembrandt paintings that are in American collections.  The attribution of many of the paintings are still being discussed and having a show like this helps to enhance arguments either for or against the authenticity.  The paintings were categorized in the following manner in order of authenticity:
*by Rembrandt (for sure)
*attributed to Rembrandt (mostly done by him)
*Rembrandt and Workshop (he and assistants)
*Workshop of Rembrandt (by assistants while he was there)
*Circle of Rembrandt (done by assistants but he probably didn't have much to do with it)
*Style of Rembrandt (done while he was alive)
*Follower of Rembrandt (done after he died)

The exhibition showed 50 paintings with 30 bona fide Rembrandts.  Some of the questionable paintings looked good enough to be a Rembrandt and it was interesting to hear about the ongoing debates regarding many of the paintings.

I walked into the show and immediately the self portrait caught my eye.  I felt he was really looking at me intensely and i became emotional.  The glow, the eyes, the expression cannot be duplicated in any book or screen.  The self portrait was revealing, honest and had a vulnerability that brought me to tears.  The face was powerful and it came forward from the flat surface.  His eyes seemed to follow me as I moved from center to side.  There was a tremendous amount of detail in the face and then less so till there was just a suggestion of a hand.  There was an amazing highlight on the nose and the paint was extra thick to perhaps further capture the light from above.  There was a hint of red on the bottom left corner and a little bit behind the left shoulder which isn't visible in the above image.  On the second day of my visit to the museum, there were a few minutes when no one was in front of the painting.  I took the opportunity to bring my face inches away from his face, trying to absorb the details.  Seeing this painting was a life highlight.

Portrait of Girl Wearing a Gold Trimmed Cloak  1632

The comparison of "Portrait of a Girl Wearing a Gold Trimmed Cloak" and "Portrait of a Young Woman" was fascinating.

Portrait of a Young Woman  1632
Workshop of Rembrandt

Seeing them side by side you can clearly see which one was done by the master himself and which one wasn't.  The "Young Woman" painting is "nice"  but it lacks the volume, dramatic lighting, accuracy, and feel that I associate with Rembrandt.  The curators spoke (free audio guide with entry fee!) about branding during Rembrandt's time, which I thought was a contemporary practice but that was done about 400 years earlier! In Rembrandt's days, he signed paintings even if he did little work on it thereby giving his stamp of approval that the product was an official Rembrandt.  This was similar to the way our contemporary Thomas Kinkade structured his workshop.  He churned out his popular commodity.
The colors of her skin create a pale flesh.  Did he use white with a hint of cadium red, burnt umber and ultramarine blue?  I mustn't forget his use of greens as well -  sap green in the light, a viridian in the shadows?
It was said that Rembrandt was a great instructor, team leader, and businessman - so why did he die penniliess?

Portrait of an Old Man  1632

"Portrait of an Old Man" was one of my favorites - the colors used made  him appear to be fading from life.  The background was lighter than many of his other portraits which gave the appearance of an old man beginning to disappear into the background.  His expression and the details of the face, and treatment of hair was masterful. Very beautiful painting.

There are grays, rust, black, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and some kind of green mixed with the blue.  The clothing has caduim red and burnt sienna.  There is a warm grey background.  The attribution is questionable but if feels like Rembrandt painted this.

Some of the followers of Rembrandt were pretty damn good!

Old Man Wearing a Red Hat   1650

Like "Old Man Wearing a Red Hat" to the right.

The masterful way Rembrandt paints the metal, leather, and textile in "Joris de Caulerij was breathtaking.  In addition to his brilliance in painting faces, he does bodies and textures equally well.  What amazed me about this painting was how the right shoulder came forward so convincingly.  I am glad that this painting is in the collection at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

Joris de Caulerij 1632

Portrait of a Man in a Red Doublet  1633

This portrait caught my eye because the subject is wearing red which was unusual.

There were 2 portraits that I do not believe to be Rembrandts because of the way the eyes were rendered.  They looked weird! 

Portrait of Anthonie Coopal  1635

Portrait of a Woman  1635 or earlier

It is difficult to tell in the above Coopal portrait image but when I saw these portraits up close, the eyes were really strange.  In addition, if there is one thing I learned from this exhibition is that Rembrandt knew how to paint eyes better than anyone else.  He did it with accuracy and feeling.  The eyes in these portraits lack both.  No way are these Rembrandts and perhaps done by one of his least capable assistants.

However, while this image below is terrible, this painting, not attributed to Rembrandt but a follower, is beautiful.  

Bust of Young Man with a Gold Chain  1629 or 1636
Rembrandt and workshop

I would say it was done by one of his more talented assistant.

Portrait of a Man Reading  1648

"Portrait of a Man Reading" is lovely but not quite a Rembrandt because of the completely shaded face, lacking in the light and dark areas and it doesn't have that special Rembrandt quality.  And even when a face is in shadow, Rembrandt is able to make those shaded areas sing.  I can  make these judgements because these paintings are hung next to real Rembrandts and you can see how different they can be.  Although sometimes, the followers create exquisite paintings which could fool anyone.

Another favorite painting, "Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair" had this amazing quality - it was as if it were breathing.  The young man was sitting there with this attitude, taking deep breaths.  The paint quality had a rougher style.   It is amazing to me that even if the paint is added in clumps, there is still a great amount of detail.   The face popped out of the canvas.   

Read about Sarah Hart's project on copying "Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair" here.

Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair  1660

Apparently, Rembrandt loved doing historical paintings but it was the portraits that were lucrative.  

Philemon and Baucis  1658

This reminded me of the "Potato Eaters" by Van Gogh.

Potato Eaters by Vincent van Gogh

"Lucretia" was interesting because Rembrandt used a palette knife to paint the white gown.

Lucretia   1666

A tragic character - the colors are very muted except for the blood.  You really feel the hopelessness of the scene - definitely a Rembrandt.

Flora    1654

I thought "Flora" was an odd painting because of the profile.  Do people really have such profiles?  I started staring at people's profiles in the museum.  The best part was the foreshortening of the arm - done so beautifully.

And then, I found another painting with the strange eyes, "Minerva in her Study" although it is difficult to tell from this image that the eyes are goofy.

"St. Bartholomew" didn't seem like an old masters painting but rather a modern painting, say from the 1930's, perhaps from a WPA project.  The face and hair seem to be of a more recent century as well as the  clothing.  He almost seemed to be wearing a modified "members only" jacket!  Rembrandt was indeed ahead of his time.

St Bartholomew  1661

I went to see this exhibition twice.  It was a well thought out, nicely presented show.  I appreciate the research that went into such an endeavor and the curators told an interesting story about Rembrandt, his life  in the Netherlands and the environment in the USA that generated a Rembrandt collecting fever.  The Gilded Age provided people the means to buy Rembrandts.  What are the current Gilded Age equivalent Techies going to buy, art-wise?

The show travels next to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, June 24 through September 16, 2012.  Do whatever you can to see this show.