Did you know that, collectively, the museums in Southern California have the third largest concentration of artworks by Rembrandt van Rijn [in this country Rijn is pronounced: Rin] in North America? All things Rembrandt are hot in SoCal right now because of a new virtual exhibition sponsored by the J. Paul Getty Trust Rembrandt in Southern California. The online exhibition features digital reproductions of all the Rembrandt paintings in permanent collections from five of the region’s premier museums: the Hammer Museum, The J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles; the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena; and the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego. Coinciding with this online exhibition, two San Diego museums and most of the Los Angeles area museums are presenting additional special exhibitions devoted to either the drawings or the etchings of van Rijn and his followers.

Working in the Dutch Republic during the 17^th century, Rembrandt is best known for his self-portraits and paintings that feature psychologically revealing portraits such as “The Sampling Officials”, 1662, (which inspired the logo on Dutch Masters Cigars boxes) and “The company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch”—commonly known as “The Nightwatch,” 1642. In addition, Rembrandt is renowned for his printed etchings and his drawings.

Rembrandt van Rijn; "Christ Preaching (La Petite

Tombe)," ca. 1652, on exhibit at the Timken

Museum of Art. Etching and drypoint; 6 1/16 in.

x 8 1/16 in. Collection of Robert and Karen Hoehn.

Image courtesy of the Timken Museum of Art.

The Timken Museum, permanent home to Rembrandt’s painting “Saint Bartholomew” (ca. 1657), is currently featuring a temporary exhibition of 14 etchings entitled Rembrandt's Recession: Passion and Prints in the Dutch Golden Age. Borrowed from the private collection of Robert and Karen Hoehn, the etchings were created between 1652 and 1656, which also happened to be a time of economic decline in the Dutch Republic. During that recession, Rembrandt accumulated serious debts. He became overextended on his luxurious home’s mortgage, overspent on artworks and other luxuries, and was involved in a lawsuit brought against him by his mistress for breach of marriage promise—17^th century palimony. In 1655, he resorted to auctioning off his personal art collection to help raise funds to pay down his debts. Through all of this, Rembrandt still managed to create artworks. The etchings on display in the Timken fall into three categories illustrating Christ’s life: his childhood, his ministry, and his passion and entombment.

Rembrandt is known for his ability to convey his subjects’ subtle nuances of character while using lighting effects to describe mood in his scenes. This is especially apparent in his etchings where successive printed editions might introduce differing nuances from one printing to another. The artist would add or subtract figures and might increase or decrease lighting levels to alter the emotion or mood of the scene by using more or less ink when printing. A prime example occurs in his etching “Christ Presented to the People (‘Ecce Homo’),” 1655, which illustrates the biblical passage describing Governor Pilate, letting a crowd choose who should be spared from crucifixion, the prisoner Barabbas or Jesus. In early printings of the scene, a large crowd is assembled in front of a platform on which Pilate, and the other main characters stand. In the eighth version (or state—each printing variation is known as a state) of the print—the one included in this exhibition—Rembrandt erased the crowd, substituting instead two arches that look like windows with bars. This allows the viewer of the artwork to function as one of the multitude deciding Jesus’ fate.

A work that exemplifies Rembrandt’s alteration of lighting effects in different printed editions exists in the third state of “The Entombment” (ca. 1654) also on view. A framed black rectangle hangs in the gallery. Only after coming very close to the work can a viewer barely perceive several dimly lit figures attending and preparing the dead Christ for entombment in the lower right corner of the black rectangle. In previous states of this work, the action occurs in a relatively well-lit scene.

Two versions of “Christ Crucified between Two Thieves (‘The Three Crosses’)” (1653) are also in the exhibition, one, a fragment state; the other, a complete fifth state. This affords the viewer the opportunity to observe closely the types of variations found between differing states by comparing the two prints side-by-side. Other prints in the exhibition include “Christ Preaching (‘La Petite Tombe’),” ca. 1652. As an exhibition, the installation may confuse the viewer because it is installed according to the year. Rembrandt did not create the images in sequence, so the exhibition appears to be randomly installed. Rather than visually cohesive, this style of presentation seems more like a collection of expensive trophies than the result of a well-curated art exhibition.

Among the other regional museums that are presenting special exhibitions devoted to Rembrandt is the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, which is home to four Rembrandt paintings plus two on temporary loan. There, the special exhibit Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference presents rarely loaned drawings by Rembrandt and very similar drawings created by his students and followers. Drawn from collections all over the world, they are exhibited side-by-side to allow viewers to see if they can discern the differences between those by the master and those by his followers. The exhibit is insightful, well organized, and scholarly. Straining to differentiate minute details and bumping into complete strangers doing the same thing has never been such collegial fun. Sharing one’s observations with whoever is standing nearby becomes an instant and universal bonding experience. Additional important paintings by Frans Hals and Jacob van Loo are also on temporary view elsewhere in the museum.

Home to three Rembrandt portrait paintings, including the only painted Self-Portrait (ca. 1636-38) in SoCal, the Norton Simon Museum currently has on view The Familiar Face: Portrait Prints by Rembrandt. This special exhibit complements the painted portraits by presenting 15 etched images of the artist’s friends and relatives, including one of his mother, in addition to self portraits, which includes one with Rembrandt and his first wife Saskia. Another etching in the exhibition is “Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill” (1639), a self-portrait that Rembrandt based on both Raphael’s famous portrait of Baldassare Castiglione and Titian’s famous “A Man with a Quilted Sleeve (perhaps the poet Ariosto),” (ca. 1510). Because both these famous paintings were in Amsterdam around this time, obviously Rembrandt was intent on showing off his artistic skills in all his competitive mastery.

The artist’s full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, which loosely translates as Rembrandt, son of Harmen, from the Rhine River region. The signature on his artworks changes frequently early on, and he finally settles on using the single-word moniker Rembrandt in 1632—no doubt choosing to model his one-word painted signature on the one-word monikers of the two Renaissance masters Raphael and Titian.

The Hammer Museum—home to two Rembrandt paintings—is presenting the largest assembled collection of etchings. The Hammer’s Rembrandt’s Prints features many figure studies, landscape scenes, and religious scenes—including three different states of Rembrandt’s most famous etching “Christ Healing the Sick” (ca. 1647–49), which is better known as “The Hundred Guilders Print.” (The nickname came about because Rembrandt is said to have received 100 Guilders when he sold a copy of the print.)

Another rewarding Rembrandt-related exhibition is currently on display at the San Diego Museum of Art. It focuses on Ferdinand Bol, an assistant in Rembrandt’s workshop for about five years, who later opened his own studio. This exhibition of both Bol’s and Rembrandt’s etchings traces the similarities and differences between prints executed by the master and his disciple. The exhibit, entitled From Rembrandt’s Studio: the Prints of Ferdinand Bol, is densely packed and is presented in the same side-by-side format as used in the exhibition at the Getty Museum. It features one of the most complete collections of etchings by Ferdinand Bol ever assembled by a museum as well as many Rembrandt etchings—including one of his self portraits.

Right now is an excellent opportunity to view artwork by one of history’s greatest artists, but most of this Rembrandt mania ends by early March. If one wants to view many Rembrandts without waiting through and being strip-searched at airport security, then hit the freeways this month because this confluence of Rembrandt-related special events will never be repeated in the comfort of a two-hour drive.