Rembrandt and the richness of the print culture

Rembrandt Van Rijn / 
Arguably, the most influential
graphic artist of his generation.

On the occasion of seeing Rembrandt's Century the other evening at the de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, I was amazed by the wide ranging artworks from the Dutch Golden Age and the remarkable achievements by Rembrandt Van Rijn and his 17th century Dutch peers in this exhibition of works on paper.

Rembrandt's Century, which complements Girl With the Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis, explores an artistic era when printmaking gained in cultural importance, both in Holland and internationally. According to the exhibition's curator, James Ganz, writing on the de Young Museum's website, http://deyoung.famsf.org, "More than any other fine objects, prints circulation extensively throughout the 17th-century art world, broadcasting artistic, political, and scientific development far and wide."

This extraordinary exhibition of more than 200 engravings, etchings, woodcuts, ink drawings and watercolors, includes 60 etchings by Rembrandt dating from the 1620s to the 1660s as its focal point. Also, there are works by painter-printmakers such as Adriaen van Ostade, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Jusepe de Ribera, as well as by graphic artists such as Jacques Callot, Wenceslaus Hollar and Lambert Doomer.

Through observing Rembrandt's etchings and prints, I learned of the richness of the print culture that existed during the era of the Dutch Golden Age. Not only was Rembrandt a student of art; he was also a teacher and a collector, too. His prints include many different genres: still life, natural history, the nude, landscape, and scenes of daily life.

One of his Rembrandt's most artistic landscapes regardless of medium is his "The Landscape with Three Trees," drawn in 1643. It represents Rembrandt's largest and most striking etched landscape and it's animated with many details, too. It drew a lot of attention and gazing on this evening.

"It's a print that's been loved by so many people, and there's so much literature on it, yet nobody to this day can agree on whether the storm is coming or going or what kind of trees those are," said Ganz, in a March interview with San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker.

"One of the conventions of landscape is that you have a draftsman sitting somewhere, but you don't put the draftsman facing out of the picture, which is what Rembrandt does here," said Ganz. "It's almost impossible to see under 5-foot candles of light, but there is a couple there cuddling in the bushes. And the three trees ~ are they the Three Crosses? Is it a political thing? We don't know."

One thing that's certain is Rembrandt thoroughly immersed himself in the vibrant print culture of the 17th century, both as a creator and collector, and he distinguished himself as arguably the most influential graphic artist of his generation.

Rembrandt's Century, the first exhibition to showcase the extraordinary holdings from the age of Rembrandt van Rijn in the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, runs through June 2, 2013 in the de Young-Herbst Exhibition Galleries at the de Young Museum, San Francisco.

(Photo for Rembrandt's Century courtesy of Exhibition Catalogue.)

Rembrandt's The Landscape With the Three Trees (1643)

Girl with a Pearl Earring: Who's that girl?

Girl with a Pearl Earring 

If life is best shared through story, as it's been said, then, art is the medium through which we illustrate these stories.

One such story that has been wonderfully illustrated is Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. This renowned and beloved masterpiece, labeled the Dutch Mona Lisa, is one of the most beautiful and artistically important paintings in the world.

Currently, the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is hosting Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis. The show, which opened on January 26 to much fanfare, continues its residency in The City through June 2. It is drawing tremendous crowds and much attention, too.

Last Friday, I visited the exhibition, which is on loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague, and came away impressed by the many outstanding paintings from the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age. Both portraits and still lifes, which give Dutch art a visually and intellectually appealing resonance, were well represented among the 35 paintings. Among them were: A Hunting Party near the Hofvijver in The Hague, Seen from the Plaats (ca. 1690) by Gerrit Berckheyde and The Goldfinch (1654) by Carel Fabritius. Other masterstroke artists represented included: Salomon van Ruysdael, Abraham van Beyeren and Rachel Ruysch.

And, of course, the special exhibition wouldn't be complete without giving due props to the most famous Dutch master of them all, Rembrandt. In fact, a separate exhibition gallery featuring 60 etchings by Rembrandt van Rijn, entitled Rembrandt's Century, is also on display and included in the admission price for Girl.

However, the centerpiece of the Dutch Golden Age exhibition remained the iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was the one spectacular painting that garnered everyone's attention, the one everyone wanted to see. And I must say this: The showstopper, which had its very own gallery room, was quite the jewel.

Johannes Vermeer painted the timeless portrait of Girl with a Pearl Earring using oils on canvas, circa 1665. While it's been a popular painting for several centuries, its celebrity and superstar status was enhanced only recently, in both literature and on film. In 1999, Tracy Chevallier's best-selling, historical novel fictionalized the circumstances of the creation of the painting. In turn, the novel inspired a 2003 dramatic movie starring Colin Firth as Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson as the wide-eyed girl, Griet. Hired by Vermeer as an assistant, she sits for him as a painting model while wearing one of his wife's pearl earrings dangling from her left earlobe. The book and the film brought the radiant painting to life and helped introduce it to a wide-reaching audience.

On this particular morning, I took my time in absorbing the atmosphere of the spacious gallery room as I approached Girl with a Pearl Earring. I wanted to take full advantage of this rare opportunity to see the most famous of Vermeer's 36 paintings and, arguably, the second most famous painting in the world.

First, I stood to the right of the hauntingly beautiful, softly-lit masterpiece. Then, I stood in front of it. Finally, I shifted to the painting's left side. I wanted to see this lovely portrait set against a dark, neutral background from a variety of angles. In each instance, there were different aspects of the painting, which was restored in 1994, that I focused upon: the girl's beautiful wide eyes, her parted lips, her blue turban-like headscarf with its yellow veil, her yellowish-brown jacket with the shining white collar, the intimacy of her gaze towards me. And, of course, the focal point: the most famous pearl earring ever painted.

Soon, I left the exhibition and headed out into a lovely, sunlit San Francisco afternoon impressed by Girl with a Pearl Earring. Yet, after seeing this magical face full of much drama and conflict, I couldn't help but think that there were many questions about this masterpiece in search of answers. I pondered some of them while walking across the park on my way to eat lunch.

• What is the girl thinking as she stares at us? 
• Do her eyes and half-smile convey a sense of innocence or are they meant to be seductive? 
• And, centrally, why is the girl wearing a pearl earring?

I'm sure others are asking the same questions as me.

Indeed, who's that girl?