Description

The enigmatic character of Rembrandt’s subject matter, his unique handling of oil paint, and his proclivity towards self-portraits -- a genre which he established almost single-handedly as a central mode for painters and as a major type of western painting -- have long elevated him into a paradigm for artistic individuality.  As Simon Schama has recently put it in his book Rembrandt’s Eyes: “No artist had ever been so fascinated by the fashioning of personae, beginning with his own.”  This very individuality of Rembrandt’s art, however, became a wide-spread fashion and a great number of Rembrandt’s pupils emulated his painterly style.  His paintings therefore have long been problematic as far as the question of attribution is concerned.  The modern trend has been restrictive: at the beginning of the twentieth century, Hofstede de Groot estimated his output at about 1000 paintings, while the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP), founded in Amsterdam in 1668, so far has only identified around 350 paintings, 300 etchings, and 2,000 drawings to be by Rembrandt’s hand.

This special subject will approach Rembrandt’s success as the result of his efforts to shape and control the formation of his artistic and social identity. This entails considering the cultural conditions which both provide and constrain an individual’s choices in creating a distinct, personal style.  Firstly, it is an in-depth study of one of the most influential artist of the seventeenth-century: Rembrandt.  The seminars will be chiefly focused on his lifetime, but also partly be concerned with his posthumous reputation.  With its emphasis on Rembrandt’s own creation of his artistic identity, the course will provide students with a broad knowledge of the basic tenets of seventeenth-century society.  Secondly, the course engages with methodological problems related to art-historical investigations of the individual artist as a creator and self-fashioner.  The students are encouraged to explore the question of how the appearance of the paintings shaped the type of artistic identity conveyed and the extra-personal concerns projected.  This allows students to analyse critically problems pertaining to artistic agency, intentionality, and style.

Objectives

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

• in-depth knowledge of the major works by Rembrandt and a conversance with a range of comparative material and sources
• a detailed understanding of the social, political and cultural context which informed the creation and reception of Rembrandt’s works
• an ability to apply and critique various methodologies and explanatory strategies through which Rembrandt’s works may be researched and understood

Preliminary reading

Introductory reading:

 S. Schama, Rembrandt’s Eyes, Penguin, 1999, chapter one ‘The Quiddity’ pp.3-38.

 Gary Schwartz, ‘The Netherlands in the early 17th century’, Rembrandt. His Life, His Paintings, New York and London, 1985, pp. 12-15.

 Tümpel, Christian, Rembrandt, Harry N. Abrams, 1993.

 Westermann, Mariet, Rembrandt, Phaidon, 2000.

 Alpers, Svetlana, Rembrandt’s enterprise: the studio and the market, London, 1988.

 Special Issues and Topics:

 Chapman, H. Perry, Rembrandt’s self-portraits: a study in seventeenth-century identity, Princeton, 1990, chpts 1 & 2.

 Chong, Alan and Michael Zell (eds), Rethinking Rembrandt, Zwolle, 2002 (look through the essays here).

 Sluijter, Eric Jan, REMBRANDT and the Female Nude, Amsterdam:Amsterdam University Press, 2006.

 De Winkel, Marieke, Fashion or Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings, Amsterdam, 2004.

 J. Boomgaard and R. Scheller, ‘A delicate balance – a brief survey of Rembrandt criticism’ in C. Brown et al., Rembrandt: The Master and his Workshop. Paintings, exhibition catalogue Berlin, Amsterdam, London NGA, 1991-2.

 Nadler, Steven M., Rembrandt’s Jews, Chicago and London, 2003, introduction and chpt 1.

 REMBRANDT? The Master and His Workshop, Ronberg, Lene Bogh, Eva de la Fuente Pedersen (eds), Copenhagen: Statens Museum for Kunst, 2006.

 Harry Berger, Manhood, Marriage, and Mischief: REMBRANDT's 'Night Watch' and Other Dutch Group Portraits, Fordham University Press, 2006.

 Technique

 D. Bomford et al. ‘Introduction’, ‘Chronology’, and ‘The Painter’s Studio’ in Exhibition catalogue, London, National Gallery, 1988-9, Art in the Making: Rembrandt, pp. 9-20.

 Wetering, Ernst van de, Rembrandt: the painter at work, Amsterdam, 1997.

 Social and Historical Context

 S. Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches: an interpretation of Dutch culture in the golden age, London: Collins, 1987.

 P. Zumthor, Daily Life in Rembrandt’s Holland, Macmillan, 1963.