Museums around the world mounted Rembrandt shows this year, said Stephanie Dickey in Smithsonian. The 400th anniversary of the Dutch painter's birth was the perfect excuse to put together crowd-pleasing exhibitions. But 'œnone has proven more exciting or informative' than this collection of 170 prints from the National Gallery of Art's permanent collection. Before Rembrandt, prints were primarily reproductions of paintings. He was at the forefront of 'œa select group of painters who drew on the etching plate with all the expressive freedom of a sketch on paper.' Rembrandt obsessively reworked his prints, making copies of each successive state. This exhibition encourages visitors to 'œlook closely, preferably with a magnifying glass,' at the different versions. Some, like Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves, are masterpieces in their own right.
This large work 'œpenetrates our souls as few works in the history of art do,' said Joanna Shaw-Eagle in The Washington Times. It's also a technical tour de force. Most printmakers rely on two methods: etching and engraving. An engraver makes an initial drawing on paper, then traces the image onto a copper printing plate. Etching uses chemicals to burn the image in. But in this case Rembrandt drew Christ's emaciated body directly onto the copper with a sharp, drypoint needle, producing a stippled, shimmering, otherworldly image. The National Gallery 'œowns one of the nation's great collections of Rembrandt graphics,' donated decades ago by Sears, Roebuck and Co. owner Lessing J. Rosenwald. This may be the best of the bunch.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
China looms large over India and Pakistan's latest violenceIN THE SPOTLIGHT Beijing may not have had troops on the ground, but as South Asia's two nuclear powers bared their teeth over Kashmir, China eyed opportunity in its own backyard
-
Where the new Pope Leo XIV stands on various issuesThe Explainer The first American pontiff is expected to continue some of his predecessor's work
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
If/Thenfeature Tony-winning Idina Menzel “looks and sounds sensational” in a role tailored to her talents.
-
Rocky
feature It’s a wonder that this Rocky ever reaches the top of the steps.
-
Love and Information
feature Leave it to Caryl Churchill to create a play that “so ingeniously mirrors our age of the splintered attention span.”
-
The Bridges of Madison County
feature Jason Robert Brown’s “richly melodic” score is “one of Broadway’s best in the last decade.”
-
Outside Mullingar
feature John Patrick Shanley’s “charmer of a play” isn’t for cynics.
-
The Night Alive
feature Conor McPherson “has a singular gift for making the ordinary glow with an extra dimension.”
-
No Man’s Land
feature The futility of all conversation has been, paradoxically, the subject of “some of the best dialogue ever written.”
-
The Commons of Pensacola
feature Stage and screen actress Amanda Peet's playwriting debut is a “witty and affecting” domestic drama.