REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Self-portrait leaning on a stone sill</em> 1639 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching, touched with black chalk<br /> 20.5 x 16.4 cm (plate) 20.8 x 16.6 cm (sheet)<br /> 1st of 2 states<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1891<br /> p.186.5-1<br /> <!--40199-->

Rembrandt

True to Life

NGV International

2 Jun – 10 Sep 23

Rembrandt: True to Life follows the work of the seventeenth-century Dutch master from his early years in Leiden through to his final years in Amsterdam. Exploring Rembrandt’s innovations in printmaking, the exhibition presents more than 100 etchings from the NGV Collection, alongside important paintings and loans from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. Rembrandt: True to Life is the most comprehensive exhibition of this extraordinary artist’s work to be held in Australia in 25 years.

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Installation images

<br/> Installation view of <em>Rembrandt: True to Life</em> at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Tom Ross<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> Installation view of <em>Rembrandt: True to Life</em> at NGV International, Melbourne. Photo: Tom Ross<br/>

Virtual Tour

Key works

REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Self-portrait leaning on a stone sill</em> 1639 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching, touched with black chalk<br /> 20.5 x 16.4 cm (plate) 20.8 x 16.6 cm (sheet)<br /> 1st of 2 states<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1891<br /> p.186.5-1<br /> <!--40199--> REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Self-portrait</em> 1659<br/> oil on canvas<br/> 84.5 × 66.0 cm<br/> National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC<br/> Andrew W. Mellon Collection (1937.1.72)<br/> Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Self-portrait in a cap, wide-eyed and open-mouthed</em> 1630<br/> etching, 2nd state<br/> 5.0 × 4.5 cm<br/> Bartsch 320; Hind 32; White & Boon 320; NHD ii/ii<br/> Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam<br/> Transfer, 1816 (RP-P-OB-697)<br/> Photo: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Two old men disputing</em> (1628) <!-- (recto) --><br /> oil on wood panel<br /> 72.4 x 59.7 cm<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1936<br /> 349-4<br /> <!--4291--> REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels with velvet beret</em> c. 1654<br/> oil on canvas<br/> 74.0 × 61.0 cm<br/> Musée du Louvre, Paris (INV 1751)<br/> Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Tony Querrec REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Woman in North Holland dress, seen from the back (‘Geertje Dircx’)</em> (<em>Vrouw in Noordhollands kostuum, op de rug gezien [‘Geertje Dircx’]</em>) c. 1640–45 <br/> pen and brush<br/> 22.2 × 15.4 cm (sheet)<br/> Schatborn 294 <br/> Teylers Museum, Haarlem <br/> (O+ 051)<br/> Photo © Teylers Museum REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>The three trees</em> 1643 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching, drypoint and engraving<br /> 21.3 x 28.0 cm (plate) 21.6 x 28.4 cm (sheet)<br /> only state<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1891<br /> p.185.7-1<br /> <!--40121--> REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Abraham's Sacrifice</em> 1655 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching and drypoint<br /> 15.7 x 13.3 cm (sheet, trimmed to platemark)<br /> only state<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Felton Bequest, 1933<br /> 59-4<br /> <!--38397--> REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>A blind hurdy-gurdy player and family receiving alms</em> 1648 <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching and drypoint<br /> 16.6 x 13.0 cm (sheet, trimmed to platemark)<br /> 1st of 5 states<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1891<br /> p.185.9-1<br /> <!--40077--> REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>Adam and Eve</em> (<em>Zondeval</em>) 1638<br/> etching <br/> 16.3 × 11.6 cm (plate)<br/> 16.9 × 12.4 cm (sheet)<br/> Teylers Museum, Haarlem <br/> (KG 03558)<br/> Photo © M. Zegel / Teylers Museum REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn<br/> <em>The Hundred Guilder print</em> (c. 1648) <!-- (recto) --><br /> etching, drypoint and engraving on Japanese paper<br /> 28.1 x 39.4 cm (plate) 28.5 x 39.7 cm (sheet)<br /> 2nd of 4 states<br /> National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne<br /> Purchased, 1891<br /> p.186.1-1<br /> <!--40154-->

Watch & Read

Video
NGV Conservation: Rembrandt’s tools Rembrandt: True to Life
Essay
Rembrandt’s watermarked papers at the National Gallery of Victoria
Essay
Rembrandt’s Shell – conus marmoreus L.
Essay
Rembrandt Abraham Francen, apothecary and Studies of the head of Saskia and others

Publication

Exhibition catalogue

The National Gallery of Victoria acquired its first work by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn in 1891 and has since assembled an outstanding and internationally recognised collection of the Dutch master’s works. This includes etchings, drawings and two key paintings that bookend the artist’s fortyfive-year career. More than 100 of these works are presented in this comprehensive publication, released to coincide with the NGV exhibition Rembrandt: True to Life.

New research and incisive writing by Petra Kayser, Jonathan Bikker, Paul Crenshaw, Tom van der Molen, Laurie Benson, Marjorie E. Wieseman, Erik Hinterding, Martin Sonnabend, Jan Blanc, Louise Wilson, Ruth Shervington and Caitlin Breare shed light on the artist’s life, times and extraordinary oeuvre.

Rembrandt: True to Life presents a timely analysis of the work and legacy of one of the most celebrated artists in the history of European art

Edited by Petra Kayser
Publisher: National Gallery of Victoria
Format: Softback
Dimensions: 287 x 226 mm (inner)
Pages: 272 pp (fully illustrated)
ISBN: 978-1-925432-99-2
Category: International art / Prints and drawings /
Monographs / Museum exhibition catalogues
RRP: $59.95
Publication date: 2 June 2023

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Media releases

1 May 23

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