Resultaten voor 'gary schwartz'

1. Gary Schwartz

Rembrandt met rode baret

De lotgevallen van de Rembrandt met de rode baret zijn bijna te bizar om waar te zijn. Het portret werd in 1823 aangekocht door de Prins van Oranje, de latere koning Willem II, voor zijn kunstcollectie, die de beste Nederlandse privéverzameling ooit was. Geteisterd door oorlogsgeweld want door Willem achtergelaten in Brussel tijdens de Belgische Opstand van 1830, in 1918 kwijtgespeeld als erfstuk van zijn nazaten na de Eerste Wereldoorlog, na de Tweede Wereldoorlog in beslag genomen in Dayton, Ohio door de Amerikaanse overheid als verondersteld vijandelijk bezit, en jarenlang een lastige diplomatieke speelbal tussen Washington en Bonn in de Duits-Amerikaanse betrekkingen tijdens de Koude Oorlog. Daarvoor was het in 1921 ook nog eens gestolen uit het Weimar Museum, en in 1935 door Duitse matrozen in New York geheeld. Sinds Weimar was het slechts tien dagen in 1947 te zien geweest in Dayton, en tien weken in 1967 in Washington. Met dit boek doet het opnieuw zijn intrede in de Rembrandtwereld. De toeschrijving aan Rembrandt is sinds 1969 omstreden. Gary Schwartz draagt argumenten aan om het te accepteren voor wat het eeuwenlang was en nog altijd lijkt te zijn, een zelfportret van de meester. Bijgevoegd zijn de resultaten van een recent technologisch onderzoek.

1. Gary Schwartz

Dutch Painting

'A masterpiece, a brilliantly original synthesis, often revelatory, miraculously condensed, and always readable' - David Carrier, Counterpunch

Rembrandt Seen Through Jewish Eyes

The earliest painting by Rembrandt whose owner is documented depicts the prophet Balaam, on his way to blessing Israel. The man who bought it was a Sephardi Jew in the service of Cardinal Richelieu of France. The first known buyer of an etching plate by Rembrandt, depicting Abraham Dismissing Hagar and Ishmael, was a Sephardi Jew of Amsterdam. Seen through their eyes, Rembrandt was the creator of images with a special meaning to Jews. They have been followed through the centuries by Jewish collectors, Jewish art historians, Jewish artists who saw their own deepest concerns modelled in his art and life, and even prominent rabbis, one of whom said that Rembrandt was a Tzadik, a holy man blessed by God. This book is the first study in depth of the potent bond between Rembrandt and Jews, from his time to ours, a bond that has penetrated the image of the artist and the people alike.

1. Gary Schwartz

A Rembrandt invention

A distinguished black man kneels on a riverbank before a bearded white man in robes, with the air of a prophet. What could a depiction of this scene be other than the well-known story from chapter 8 of The Acts of the Apostles? No Dutch notary of the seventeenth century hesitated in identifying the subject of a painting with this motif as the baptism by Philip of an Ethiopian official called a moor, a eunuch or a chamberlain. On the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, he becomes convinced of the divinity of Christ and is brought into the faith by an envoy of the Lord. The identification was so obvious that it does not seem to need further interrogation. Yet, as Gary Schwartz shows in this fascinating, concise study, a closer look is very revealing. The text of Acts, which specifies that both men went into the water, and does not say that the eunuch kneeled or even that he was black, is not followed closely by any Dutch artist of the seventeenth century. Rembrandt was one of those who took far-going liberties with Scripture in his depictions of the story in paint, drawing and print. The occasion to take this closer look was the emergence of an as yet unpublished painting of the Baptism of the eunuch with all the hallmarks of a Rembrandt creation. Is it by him? An engraving of 1650 by a leading Amsterdam printmaker and publisher that reproduces the composition says that it was “invented by Rembrandt”. How is this to be taken? Schwartz delves into the question. The inclusion of the painting in the exhibition Young Rembrandt: rising star in Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden gives occasion to Gary Schwartz to review the iconography of the baptism of the eunuch and present the new painting. His book is the most completely illustrated study of the baptism of the eunuch yet to appear. Gary Schwartz has been studying Rembrandt and publishing on him for fifty years. See his website garyschwartzarthistorian.nl.