Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt

4 Oct 2016 — 2 Jan 2017 at The National Gallery of Art in Landover, United States

13 December 2016

Jan Lievens, Forest Interior with a Draftsman, 1660s, pen and ink with wash, Maida and George Abrams Collection, Boston. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art

Dutch landscapes, still lifes, and scenes of daily life possess a remarkable immediacy and authenticity, giving the impression that Dutch artists painted them from life.

However, artists actually executed these works—as well as biblical and mythological subjects—in studios, often using drawings as points of departure.

More than 90 drawings and 27 paintings by such renowned Golden Age masters as Aelbert Cuyp, Pieter Jansz Saenredam, and Rembrandt van Rijn reveal the many ways Dutch artists used preliminary drawings in the painting process.

The exhibition includes compositional drawings, individual figure studies, carefully ruled construction drawings, and sketchbooks. It also examines the underdrawings artists made on their panel and canvas supports before painting their scenes.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalog.

The National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art preserves, collects, exhibits, and fosters understanding of works of art at the highest possible museum and scholarly standards.

Museum profile

Location

Landover, United States

Michiel van Musscher, An Artist in His Studio with His Drawings, mid-1660s, oil on panel, Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art

Rembrandt van Rijn, Old Man Seated, 1631, chalk on prepared paper, Private Collection. Rembrandt’s command of red chalk is exquisitely demonstrated in this sketch, with a range of tones capturing the light and shadow that fall on the man. Rembrandt used the figure to represent the Old Testament patriarch Jacob in Joseph Telling His Dreams, the oil sketch seen in the following slide. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art

Rembrandt van Rijn, Joseph Telling His Dreams, 1633, grisaille, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art

Michiel van Musscher, An Artist in His Studio with His Drawings, mid-1660s, oil on panel, Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art
Rembrandt van Rijn, Old Man Seated, 1631, chalk on prepared paper, Private Collection. Rembrandt’s command of red chalk is exquisitely demonstrated in this sketch, with a range of tones capturing the light and shadow that fall on the man. Rembrandt used the figure to represent the Old Testament patriarch Jacob in Joseph Telling His Dreams, the oil sketch seen in the following slide. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art
Rembrandt van Rijn, Joseph Telling His Dreams, 1633, grisaille, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art

Rembrandt van Rijn, Old Man Seated, 1631, chalk on prepared paper, Private Collection. Rembrandt’s command of red chalk is exquisitely demonstrated in this sketch, with a range of tones capturing the light and shadow that fall on the man. Rembrandt used the figure to represent the Old Testament patriarch Jacob in Joseph Telling His Dreams, the oil sketch seen in the following slide. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art
Rembrandt van Rijn, Joseph Telling His Dreams, 1633, grisaille, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art
Michiel van Musscher, An Artist in His Studio with His Drawings, mid-1660s, oil on panel, Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna. Courtesy of National Gallery of Art