Rembrandt's Orient : West meets East in Dutch art of the seventeenth century / [ ... ] edited by Bodo Brinkmann, Gabrietl Dette, Michael Philipp, Ortrud Westheider.
Publisher:
Prestel,
Copyright Date:
2020
Description:
328 pages : illustrations (colour, black and white) ; 31 cm
Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany from June 27 - October 11, 2020 and at Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland from October 31, 2020 - February 14, 2021. "A volume in the Museum Barberini publication series"--Book jacket flap. Includes bibliographical references (pages 312-323).
Contents:
Catalog of exhibited works. Essays. Familiarizing the exotic : Rembrandt's adaptation of the Orient. Arnoud Vrolijk -- The fascination of the East : trade and art in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century / Erik Spaans -- "The exquisiteness of the goods the Indian gives us" : non-European objects in seventeenth-century Dutch still lifes and interiors / Michael Philipp -- "Utterly artless" or "Exceedingly noble" : Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid art in the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries / Jan de Hond -- Convention and uniqueness : Rembrandt's response to the East / Gary Schwartz -- The fear of Barbary pirates : privateers and Christian slaves in the seventeenth century / Roelof van Gelder -- Knowledge from the East : collecting Oriental manuscripts in the Dutch Republic in the age of Rembrandt / Arnoud Vrolijk -- Catalog of exhibited works. Turbans and silk robes : bringing the Orient home -- Paths to prosperity : trade and war -- Understanding the world : collections and research -- The landscape of the Bible : early Rembrandt and his influences -- Light in the temple : Rembrandt in Amersterdam and his followers -- True to life? Or mere convention? -- Familiarizing the exotic : Rembrandt's adaptation of the Orient.
Summary:
"This book sheds light on the fascinating ways Rembrandt and other Golden Age painters were influenced by Eastern culture. In the 17th century, Amsterdam was a vibrant hub of the burgeoning European trade with Asia, Africa, and the Levant, importing copious amounts of foreign items that powerfully stimulated the imagination of numerous Dutch artists. This was notably the case with Rembrandt, whose curiosity and voraciousness as a collector were legendary in his time. Throughout his prolific career, he drew on Eastern influences in genres as diverse as history painting and portraiture, including depictions in which he himself adopted Oriental styled attire. This lavishly illustrated book explores the inventive ways in which Rembrandt and his contemporaries accommodated Eastern imagery into their own repertoire, set within the wider context of Holland’s rapidly expanding commercial and cultural exchange with its non-European trading partners. The problematic term ́Orient́ was widely used in Rembrandt’s time and will be discussed at great length in this catalogue."-- Publisher. For someone who, for all we know, never left his native country, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn had a strikingly broad horizon. As an artist, collector, and citizen, he came into contact with artifacts, objects of utility, and humans from all parts of the known world. Rembrandt's curiosity about everything foreign and his insatiable collector's appetite were legendary even in his lifetime and part and parcel of his singular creative genius. Amsterdam, the center of his life, was the perfect place for a man of such boundless interests: the Dutch East and West India Companies had their headquarters and home port here, as did other trading partnerships. In the seventeenth century, the city was a true cultural melting pot. Legates and merchants from far-flung places were a daily sight in the streets of the young Dutch Republic. The exhibition focuses on one of the most consequential strands in this constellation: the Orient an umbrella term for diverse Eastern non-European cultures rather than a well-defined geographic designation fired Rembrandt's imagination throughout his career. It inspired the painter has he envisioned the settings of biblical histories, one of his favorite genres. Several self-portraits show the artist in exotic costumes. His copies of miniatures created at the court of the Great Mughals were a tribute to Asian creativity and taste without precedent in Dutch art. Last but not least, he was an eager consumer of Japanese paper, which he liked to use for his etchings. Exhibition: Museum Barberini, Potsdam, Germany (27.06. - 11.10.2020) / Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland (31.10.2020 - 14.02.2021).
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.