Russell Collection Inventory

In the whole history of art Rembrandt stands out as one of the solitary and unapproachable personalities who have struck their own style, and stamped their influence, for good or for bad, on posterity. In his etched work his unique position is realized to even greater advantage than in painting; for in the latter sphere Frans Hals, his senior by a few years, was not far behind in brilliance of brush and incisive delineation. But among contemporary etchers there was no one who combined the same mastery of medium with a tithe of his significance of expression. In fact, no worthy rival in this field can be found before the last century, and then in whom but Whistler? But in the range of his genius Rembrandt still stands alone. Let him handle the most momentous scene from Scripture, a landscape, a piece of genre, the slightest study of still life--all alike are illumined by a power which never fails to pierce to the heart of things.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, born the 15th of July 1606, was the son of a well-to-do miller of Leyden, Harmen Gerritsz van Rijn. His first master was Jacob van Swanenburgh, of his own town, under whom he is said to have worked some three years. Later (about 1623-24?) he studied under Lastman in Amsterdam, according to Orlers, for the short space of six months--a fact by no means improbable in view of the striking independence of Rembrandt as an artist, and of the small trace of outside influences even in his earliest work. At what time Rembrandt actually started practice as a master in Leyden is uncertain, but he was already dating his pictures in 1627, and by 1628 Gerard Dou, who was destined to become famous, is known to have been his pupil. It is significant of Rembrandt's individual genius that, in an age when every young artist was supposed to visit Italy, a pupil of the classicist, Lastman, despised the conventional tour, convinced that the true realization of his own and of his country's art lay in the limited outlook of the Dutch interior, and amid the quiet beauty of uneventful landscape. Throughout his whole work he made a scruple of being content with the types that lay to his hand. He never sought the external ideal of beauty through which the voice that touches humanity often loses its distinctness, appreciating a truth which has placed him at once among the perfect exponents of character and among the most powerful of religious artists, that physical realism is less a hindrance than an aid to the rendering of spiritual significance in art.

Rembrandt's etched work may be profitably considered in three periods, each of which possesses a predominant characteristic. In the first period (1628-1639), the pure etched line is the commonest medium, and there is a certain carefulness and even restraint in draughtsmanship with which the younger artist is wont to belie exuberant passion. By 1640 work with the drypoint, which was beginning to be seen towards the end of the 'thirties, becomes a significant factor in his style, and its use in heightening the effect of light and shade is little by little more adequately realized. Attention to the tone of the whole composition, apart from the mere design, is characteristic of Rembrandt's developing power, though this end is still gained largely by means of close lines of shading. In the third period (from 1651 onwards) there is a remarkable increase in the vigor and breadth of the handling. The lines of shading are more open, the forms less conventional, and the touch truer, more spontaneous and less evidently conscious. Drypoint is now used as much as etching, and chiaroscuro, now of the first moment, though still rendered in some plates by closely hatched shading, is often achieved by a more summary method, which leaves much to the variations obtainable by means of a tint of ink left on the surface of the plate in the printing.

In his etching one characteristic which best shows the constant freshness of vision, is the receptivity which was always ready to adapt elements in life and art that had made a passing impression on his mind. Like all the greatest creators he seldom exhibits any striving after "originality" falsely so called. He kept to familiar themes, and felt no compunction at direct pieces of plagiarism. But it was the sort of plagiarism which shows readiness of appreciation, not poverty of imagination. His pre-eminent place in art depends as much on his untiring powers of self-education as on any extraordinary brilliance of innate genius. While other artists may have acquiesced in contemporary fame, repeating their triumphs with the public, Rembrandt was still taking infinite pains, and exploring new paths, which led him away from the line of popularity but constantly nearer the highest level of human achievement.


Excerpted from:

Arthur M. Hind, A History of Engraving and Etching from the 15th Century to the Year 1914, New York: Dover, 1963.

Arthur M. Hind, A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings, New York: Da Capo Press, 1967.

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