Gersaint on Rembrandt: À Son Seul Génie

Abstract

The art dealer Edmé-François Gersaint made a significant contribution to Rembrandt connoisseurship in the eighteenth century. The many paintings that passed through the Parisian art market provided him with a broad knowledge of the artist's work, and enabled him to write with understanding of Rembrandt's achievement.Gersaint was an innovative writer of auction sale catalogues, who introduced new principles of organization and enhanced descriptions of the objects. He brought this same reasoned approach to his catalogue of Rembrandt's etchings: the first catalogue raisonné devoted to the work of a single artist.Gersaint composed two notable biographies of Rembrandt, one in 1744, the other in 1751. His eloquent descriptions of the artist's painterly style, though influenced by literary tradition, owe much to his own experience, especially in his choice of exemplary paintings. Gersaint was a skilled yet practical connoisseur, who recognized all the difficulties posed by questions of attribution. He advocated emphasizing the merits of a painting, rather than the name of its artist. He also recognized the value of reproductive prints for making paintings available to a wider audience.