The Rembrandt Studio

When I was in Los Angeles recently, I visited the J. Paul Getty Museum and the first thing I wanted to see there was the exhibition of drawings by Rembrandt and his students. It exceeded my expectations. It was fascinating, moving, and educational.

Rembrandt's students, assistants, and associates sketched along side each other, drawing the same models, landscapes, and biblical subjects. The students and assistants tried to emulate the master's style and Rembrandt often corrected or added to their drawings, making authorship unclear. Student drawings remained with the workshop when the apprentice moved on and at Rembrandt's death there were 2,000 drawings listed in his estate. The drawings attributed to Rembrandt proliferated after his death, sometimes when the estates of his former students came on the market. At one point there were 5,000 "Rembrandt" drawings in circulation. How many of these are considered authentic drawings from the hand of the master, depends on which expert you consult. This exhibition does a great job of explaining the criteria the experts use when examining the drawings for authorship.

I was, frankly, only mildly interested in the issue of "did he or didn't he" sketch a particular drawing. What really fascinated me about this exhibit was the sense it gave of the collegiality and practice of Rembrandt's workshop. To mount this show, drawings were pulled from collections around the world, to place them side-by-side again for the first time since the artists sat together sketching a single subject. A particular model is shown in slightly varying perspectives much the same as the sketches collected from a life drawing class today. Sometimes an artist sketched the room around the model, including other artists. In one drawing, almost a caricature by Constantijn Daniel van Renesse, Rembrandt sits surrounded by his students as they struggle to draw a nude model. In another sequence, a farm house is shown from several angles, with other artists appearing in the foreground. The "corrected" drawings show the decisive strokes of the master over the hesitant, timid lines of the student - sometimes just defining a muscle, other times changing the composition. It felt like looking over the shoulders of the artists in the class. Gave me goosebumps, really.

The book that accompanies this exhibit is a good substitute if you can't get to the show. Unlike paintings, drawings are smaller and flatter, and the excellent reproductions in the book are at or near full-size. Plus, the information in the extensive wall texts is easier to digest in book format. The first essay in the book is the best one- by Holm Bevers, it describes Rembrandt's workshop, how it operated, and how it differed from other workshops in its day - it was a little more casual, and operated more like an informal art academy. Most of the book consists of large reproductions of drawings by Rembrandt and 15 of his students. The accompanying text is interesting, not too academic.

The Getty has a great web site for this show, including good reproductions and an interactive segment that mimics the wall tags at the exhibit.

275 pages, copiously illustrated:
Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils, Telling the Difference
©2009 Getty Publications, ISBN 978-0-89236-979-9