Rembrandt Van Rijn
SORDID AND SACRED:
THE BEGGARS IN REMBRANDT'S ETCHINGS
Selections from the John Villarino Collection

NATIONAL MUSEUM TOUR
2006-2009

Introduction - Exhibition Facts
Tour Schedule
Exhibition Essay by Gary Schwartz
Images of All Works
Images of Works with Frames
List of Works
Installation Views
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

- LANDAU TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS WEBSITE -

SORDID AND SACRED: THE BEGGARS IN REMBRANDT'S ETCHINGS Selections from the John Villarino Collection is now being made available for circulation to museums through 2009. The exhibition features 35 rare etchings by Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669) executed between 1629 and 1654. Widely recognized as the greatest practitioner of the etching technique in the history of art, Rembrandt created 300 prints that constitute a body of work unparalleled in richness and beauty. 2006, is the anniversary of Rembrandt's 400th birthday. Rembrandt repeatedly chose beggars as the subject for his etchings. Dutch author, art historian, and editor of: THE COMPLETE ETCHINGS OF REMBRANDT, Dover Publications, NY, 1994, Gary Schwartz, in his essay for the exhibition catalogue, writes “The image of the beggar in Netherlandish art was no better than in society as a whole. It would not then have been out of line with the convictions of his society, with Netherlandish artistic tradition or classical art theory, had Rembrandt depicted beggars as contemptible or loathsome creatures. Indeed, some of his work fits perfectly well into this picture." However, many of Rembrandt's etchings are of biblical scenes with biblical figures portrayed as beggars. Schwartz writes, “This kind of crossover between street life and sacred history matches a pattern that is found elsewhere in Rembrandt's work. Mean and sordid though they may have been in life and in art theory, in Rembrandt's etchings beggars are bestowed with sanctity and individuality.” He continues. “This constellation of images and of markets - from the pennies paid for small etchings of beggars to the veritable fortunes Rembrandt earned for paintings for the stadholder - shows how essential Rembrandt's etchings of beggars were in his formative years as an artist. The way he imagined the beggar is inextricable from the way he imagined himself, the way he imagined Christ, the way he conceived of imagery itself.” The high regard for the work of Rembrandt stems from his originality and imagination, his profound sympathy with his subjects, the boldness of his system of light and shade, the thoroughness of his modeling, his subtle color, and above all his intense humanity. He was gifted in conception and in execution, a poet as well as a painter, an idealist and also a realist. The John Villarino Collection of Los Angeles, CA, was curated by Michael Schwartz. Villarino’s initial focus of collecting was classical etchings and lithographs by artists including Toulouse de Lautrec and Pablo Picasso. In 1995 Villarino’s attention was drawn to the work of Rembrandt, and his evident influence on the prints of Lautrec, Picasso, and others. Thus began his passion for collecting Rembrandt’s sought after lifetime etchings. The exhibition will be available through 2008. Please see the exhibition schedule below. The exhibition was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, CA. Installation Views North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC March 2006