Rembrandt van Rijn, Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, Known as the ‘Night Watch’, 1642. On loan from the City of Amsterdam.

AL-MSTERDAM - Rijksmuseum marks the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt’s death in 2019 with ‘Year of Rembrandt’. The year-long celebration opens with ‘All the Rembrandts’ (15 February to 10 June), in which the Rijksmuseum will present for the first time an exhibition of all 22 paintings, 60 drawings and more than 300 best examples of Rembrandt’s prints in its collection.

As well as holding the world’s largest collection of Rembrandt paintings – including The Night Watch, the portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit, The Jewish Bride – the Rijksmuseum collection offers the world’s most comprehensive and representative overview of Rembrandt’s painting oeuvre.

Given the extreme rarity that many of these delicate drawings and prints go on display, All the Rembrandts in the Rijksmuseum offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to glean an unparalleled perspective on Rembrandt the artist, the human, the storyteller, the innovator.

The Rembrandt collection at the Rijksmuseum.

The recent acquisition of the spectacular marriage portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit means the Rijksmuseum’s collection of Rembrandt paintings is now the largest in the world. With its total of 22 works, from the early Self-Portrait as a Young Man to the later Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul, the collection forms a coherent overview of his entire life. The highlight of the collection of Rembrandt’s paintings is his greatest masterpiece, The Night Watch.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait, c. 1628. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum and the ministerie van CRM.

The comprehensive collection of drawings encompasses all Rembrandt’s periods and styles, and includes numerous exceptional drawings from his early period. The Rijksmuseum will show only the most beautiful and finest of Rembrandt’s 1300 prints. The 17th-century prints are exceedingly fragile and rarely displayed in public.

The exhibition

All the Rembrandts of the Rijksmuseum will explore different aspects of Rembrandt’s life and work through a number of themes. The first section presents the milestones of his career as a young artist; when Rembrandt looks at himself in the mirror, the viewer looks over his shoulder. A close examination of Rembrandt’s many self-portraits reveals his growth as an artist of incomparable talent.

The second section of the exhibition focuses on Rembrandt’s surroundings and the people in his life. As a young man Rembrandt honed his craft by painting portraits of his mother, his family and acquaintances. He even made a powerful portrait of his wife Saskia as she lay ill in bed. The artist was also fascinated by the wider world around him: the beggars, the buskers, the vagrants, the actors. He drew and painted countless portraits of the people he encountered.

Rembrandt was a gifted storyteller, and his stories are at the heart of the last section of the exhibition. The Old Testament tales inspired Isaac and Rebecca (the alternative title for The Jewish Bride, c. 1665–1669) and Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (1661) in which he gives masterful expression to gestures and emotions that are familiar, tangible and intimate. Early depictions of these tales tend to be delicate and refined; later in life Rembrandt used a coarser experimental technique, applying ingenious colour and light effects to further enhance the narrative and draw out its essence.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Isaac and Rebecca, Known as ‘The Jewish Bride", c. 1665 – c. 1669. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest).

Programme

The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive programme of lectures, workshops and events. Details of the programme will be announced later this year.

Biography of Rembrandt

A biography of Rembrandt by Jonathan Bikker, Curator of Research at the Rijksmuseum, will accompany the exhibition.

Title: Rembrandt Author: Jonathan Bikker Price: €25 ISBN: Dutch 9789462084742 English: 9789462084759.

Rembrandt van Rijnb, Self-portrait with Tousled Hair, c. 1628 – c.1629. De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, 1630. Purchased with the support of private collectors, the Vereniging Rembrandt and the Stichting tot Bevordering van de Belangen van het Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Man in Oriental Dress, 1635. Gift of Mr and Mrs Kessler-Hülsmann, Kapelle op den Bosch.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Saskia Sitting by a Window, c. 1638. Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Landscape with a Stone Bridge, c. 1638. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt and A. Bredius, Amsterdam.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait with the forearm leaning on a stone threshold, 1639. Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Three Trees, 1643. Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Three Crosses, 1653. Mr and Mrs De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, Muri, Switzerland.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Nude Woman Resting on a Cushion, c. 1658. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Jupiter and Antiope, 1659. Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Recumbent Lion, c. 1660. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt.

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Wardens of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, Known as ‘The Syndics’, 1662. On loan from the City of Amsterdam.