Rembrandt, Death of the Virgin, 1639
Poughkeepsie, New York, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Gift of Mrs. Felix M. Warburg and her children, 1941.1.67
Prints and Drawings Galleries
Museum information, 3 June 2005
On the four hundredth anniversary of his birth, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) remains one of the most imaginative and inventive of artists. The exhibition celebrates the virtuosity and perspicacity of this Dutch painter through works on paper drawn largely from the permanent collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Rembrandt rendered these landscapes, religious and theatrical scenes, portraits, and scenes from everyday life with a fluid facility and relished the drama of a subject whether it be a threatening storm, a heavenly vision, or a nocturnal Nativity. A master storyteller and admirer of theater, he imbued his prints with tell-tale lines and light that echo the tenor of a subject, whether an ecstatic vision of angels or a very earthbound willow tree. His ready insight into ephemeral states of mind is still unequaled.
On exhibit are approximately fifty works exploring the great sense of drama evoked in Rembrandt’s art. The exhibition is organized by the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and honors College President Frances Fergusson and her many contributions to Vassar on the occasion of her retirement after twenty years of service. The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of The Smart Family Foundation, Inc.