CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

Rembrandt in Berlijn: alle tekeningen uit het Kupferstichkabinett

Rembrandt in Berlin: drawings from the Kupferstichkabinett Exhibition: 22 March - 28 May 2007

Rembrandt, Portrait of Saskia, 1633. Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

Rembrandt, The artist’s bride of three days
Silverpoint on prepared vellum, 18.5 x 10.7 cm
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

From the museum website

The exhibition shows the world-famous Berlin collection of Rembrandt drawings. These range from preparatory sketches and independent representations of many different subjects to personal documents such as the portrait of the artist’s bride. Rembrandt is counted among the greatest draftsmen of all times. Even the smallest and most fleeting sketches bear witness to the Dutch master’s unrivalled skill of capturing human affects and emotions. In the first instance, they served as a study of movement and expression or of entire compositions, as well as to collect image ideas for himself and the pupils in his workshop.

The Berlin Kupferstichkabinett – Museum of Prints and Drawings owns one of the most important collections of Rembrandt drawings worldwide. From the earliest works to the late oeuvre, it spans the full range of all genres and means of expression, apart from the rare animal studies. Of the drawings previously thought to be by Rembrandt, recent research has re-attributed a great many to his pupils. Hence, of the 126 presumed Rembrandt drawings only 55 are still regarded as being by the master’s hand. These most complicated questions of attribution form the actual core of the research in preparation of this exhibition. Next to the 55 confirmed works, it includes 25 drawings that are no longer attributed to Rembrandt. Furthermore, it offers a detailed insight into issues of function, iconography and style of the drawings.

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