The Present State of Rembrandt Studies

Abstract

Because they came into this world or because they left it exactly one or more centuries ago, Erasmus, Pieter Bruegel, Rembrandt and Matisse were commemorated in 1969. Special exhibitions were devoted to all four, and the pace of publications quickened. The first volume of Erasmus's Opera Omnia was prepared in time to appear in the Erasmus Year, and the exhibition in Rotterdam devoted to him probably included more works of art of great significance than any other exhibition that was primarily of a historical rather than an art-historical nature. Pieter Bruegel's art and thought as it was reproduced and made accessible in the numerous prints issued by Jerome Cock and other publishers was shown in Brussels, and both Bruegel and Matisse received special attention at the International Congress of the History of Art in Budapest. The number of exhibitions and the volume of publications devoted to them, however, are in no way comparable to the staggering amount of articles, catalogues and books devoted to Rembrandt (see appended list referred to by number). It is doubtful whether the reasons for this imbalance should be sought in a greater need for clarification of questions concerning Rembrandt than the other artists. Commercial motivation on the part of book publishers, the availability of drawings and etchings for exhibitions (Bruegel does not travel well), and the sense of duty of Dutch art historians to pay homage to the nation's greatest artist may all have contributed to this flood of publications. The results are surprisingly refreshing. Although the changes in the interpretation of the past do not follow the cycle of commemorative events, the latter apparently encouraged those who had something to say to formulate their thoughts. The year 1969 has contributed some fundamental and numerous minor changes to our concept of Rembrandt. I will discuss the changes effected by publications that appeared in 1969 in the following categories: (I) Exhibitions; (2) The artist's life; (3) The definition of his oeuvre (in the sense of the extent of paintings, etchings, and drawings, as well as of formal derivations and dating of individual works); (4) Iconography; (5) Rembrandt and the art of his contemporaries; (6) Monographs; (7) Finally, I should like to formulate some desiderata.