“Call me Rembrandt” – such an exhibition title suggests that the artist himself speaks and reveals what essentially defines him and his oeuvre. Now it is the case with Rembrandt that he is always recognizable as a person in his works because his view of people, landscapes, Bible scenes is so special, warm, earthy, subjective; this artist always seems to enter into an emotional exchange with his models and subjects. Or he shows himself straight away, in his countless self-portraits in all emotional states. In this respect, no Rembrandt exhibition can be curated without also making the subject of the self-expression of the Dutchman from the Baroque period.
The Rembrandt show in the Städel, however, primarily advertises itself with the exclamation “Call me Rembrandt”. The reason may be that the self-exploring Rembrandt seems to fit better into the world of today’s visitors than what then goes into can be seen in large parts. It could be just as interesting as Rembrandt’s inner life: It is the external framework conditions of his art that are presented here.
The exhibition may not really choose between sociologically motivated cultural history and classic factory history
Rembrandt’s works can be seen in comparison with those of other masters who either imitated him or, on the contrary, rejected his intimate connection of color, composition and emotion, in favor of rigid representational painting for the upper class. You can see the clients and their vanities that made the art market in the Netherlands flourish in the 17th century, white lace collars, dark men’s hats and black shimmering fabrics. And you learn about Amsterdam in the 17th century and the influence of art critics – Rembrandt draws one of them dog-ears. But all of this is touched on rather than argued through. The exhibition may not really choose between sociologically motivated cultural history and classic factory history.
Many of Rembrandt’s competitors just wanted to please those who ordered the pictures
So it remains to be seen that Rembrandt understood the aesthetic effect of his work better than many competitors who only wanted to please those who ordered the pictures but did not also think of a later audience who wanted to be touched by art as art. But that is not new. Rembrandt’s rank in art history needs no justification; anyway he is above almost any comparison in his time and his homeland.
Radiant: Rembrandt’s “Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes” from 1634.
(Photo: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid)
Despite this conceptual fickleness (the catalog published by Hirmer-Verlag is more in-depth than the show itself) a series of eye-opening works can be seen. There is Rembrandt’s radiant “Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes” from 1634, a proud matron who could also be another Old Testament heroine.
Pure drama: “Ganymede in the clutches of the eagle”, 1635 by Rembrandt.
(Photo: State Art Collections Dresden)
Or, a year later, “Ganymede in the clutches of the eagle”, and no, there is nothing heroic about it, it is just mean, how Zeus, the mighty eagle, kidnaps this little boy who is urinating with fear. Rembrandt is a playwright, but one who does not paint the old stories, but examines them for their emotional core and puts them into the picture again. Even at the Descent from the Cross, he frees himself from the pictorial tradition: His dead Christ collapses, he does not need any respect, but the love and support of those who receive him.
Hardly to be surpassed in directness: Rembrandt’s “Die Blendung Simsons”, 1636.
(Photo: Städel Museum)
The change in formats in the exhibition is impressive. You can see touching pen drawings like those of a woman sleeping at the open window, created around 1665. Rembrandt is also an everyday writer, one who wants to grasp reality as precisely as possible. Such delicate sheets are juxtaposed with brutal large formats, above all the monumental “Blendung Simsons” from 1636, which belongs to the Städel. Again Rembrandt chooses an unusual moment and does not show how Delilah outwits Samson in the Old Testament and robs him of his strength, but how the heavy man is then overpowered by his opponents and they pierce his eye. The bloody scene can hardly be surpassed in terms of directness, Rembrandt does not gloss over the violence, illuminates its victim brightly and puts the viewer in the uncomfortable position of having to see the end of their ability to see.
He doesn’t make it easy for you, not even today. The organizers of the exhibition would have wished for a little more of the explosiveness, urgency and concentration of this highly emotional, well-thought-out work. Rembrandt is still conveying himself today, you just have to let him unfold.
Call me Rembrandt! Breakthrough in Amsterdam. Städel Museum, Frankfurt. Until January 30th.