Information from the organizers, 11 May 2010
In June 2010 The Art Museum of Timişoara Museum organizes an exhibition with the etchings of Rembrandt from the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Romanian Academy Library in Bucharest. 101 engravings by Rembrandt made between the years 1628 and 1665 will be displayed for the public: engravings depicting themes from the Old and the New Testament, self-portraits, portraits, landscapes or genre scenes. These prints were bought by passionate collectors from Bucharest, such as D. A. Sturdza, Gh. Oprescu, G. Balş, M. Ciucă, Al. Slătineanu and were later donated or bought by the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Romanian Academy Library Bucharest.
For the current exhibition we selected 101 prints. The types illustrate the most important stages in the artist’s creation. The engravings are from the editions printed during the artist’s life or from the beginning of the 18th century. Later prints, such as those from the end of the 18th and the 19th centuries were not selected for this exhibition, although they are interesting from a documentary point of view.
The most important and beautiful engravings, those printed during the artist’s life, come from the private collection of the academician and architect Gheorghe Balş (1868–1934). In the year 1986 Matei Balş, Gheorghe Balş’s son, donated to the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Romanian Academy Library Bucharest a number of 193 works, over 90 are by Rembrandt.
The prints exhibition is completed by a small display of Dutch and Flemish painting from the 17th century, from the collection of the Art Museum of Timişoara.