One of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands is the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam. There is always a multilingual noisy crowd of admirers of the work of the great Dutchman, who has uniquely mastered the art of light and shadow.
Rembrandt in Amsterdam
The famous painter was born in 1606 in the small town of Leiden.
After 25 years, he moved to the capital and soon achieved success. After 8 years, rich and famous, Rembrandt acquires a brand new two-story mansion on the outskirts of the city, built in the fashionable Renaissance style. In this house he lived with his family, setting up a workshop on the 2nd floor, and rooms for students in the attic.
Soon things did not go so well. In 1656, Rembrandt, trying to cover his debts, sells his various collections. The paintings, antiques, even the favorite samurai armor are on sale , then the artist sells the house with which he was associated so much.
In 1669 the beggar and forgotten by all Harmenszoon Van Rijn Rembrandt dies.
Museum foundation
In the Netherlands, 1906 was dedicated to the anniversary of the famous compatriot. A special fund is formed to buy a house in which a large part of the artist’s life has been spent and a large part of his masterpieces has been created.
Queen Wilhelmina issues a decree on the creation of the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam, the house in which the artist lived was bought with fund money. The museum opens its doors to tourists in 1911.
In 1940, when the war approached the borders, all works of art were hidden in a safe, which was in the museum basement. In 1944 they were transported to the bank.
The Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam reopened immediately after the war, in 1945.
In 1999, the premises were restored and restored in the spirit of the XVII century.
Today the house-museum represents 2 complexes:
- the living quarters in which the artist’s family lived, the kitchen, as well as the office and workshop of Rembrandt;
- a museum space has been created in the attached new wing, where there is a permanent exhibition of paintings, prints by Rembrandt, paintings by other artists and temporary exhibitions, as well as a souvenir shop, cafe and information center.
Museum: artist's private life
Although the property of Rembrandt was auctioned in 1658, notarial lists of those years helped fill the rooms of the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam with genuine objects, providing historical authenticity. The artist’s drawings also helped to recreate the atmosphere.
In these rooms, Rembrandt appears not just as a painter, but also as a family man, collector, merchant. The rooms exhibit furniture and household items of that era.
In the office you can see the collections collected by Rembrandt: stuffed animals, busts of plaster, weapons from different countries and bright shells.
The artist’s tools are stored in the workshop with which he created his masterpieces.
The work of Rembrandt, presented in the museum
The founder and head of the Board of Trustees of the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam, Jan Wet sought to fill the house with the artist’s works. Today the museum fund is the richest collection of Rembrandt’s works :
- engravings;
- drawings and sketches;
- pictures.
Only in Amsterdam you can admire the first self-portrait of Rembrandt, made in full growth and depicting the artist at work.
Also in the museum are the works of Rembrandt's teacher - P. Lastman, his students and contemporaries.
Nowadays, the museum expands its exposition by exhibiting:
- works of followers of the famous Dutch painter, primarily Austrian and German artists of the 18th-19th centuries;
- reproductions of Rembrandt’s works made today;
- copies of paintings and drawings by the famous Dutch painter;
- paintings of modern artists.
A workshop is held every day at the Rembrandt Museum, during which experts show how engravings were created in the 17th century. In the workshop, museum employees demonstrate dyes that were in use in those years, powders are mixed in front of tourists to get paints.
Complete immersion in the era is felt even in the toilet rooms, decorated with amusing drawings of the great Dutchman.
Engravings
Pride of the Rembrandt House-Museum in Amsterdam - engravings. The collection is an almost complete collection of graphic drawings: of the 290 copies created personally by the artist in the museum fund, there are 260.
Of particular interest is the presence of the collection in the museum, the fact that the engravings were created by Rembrandt while he lived in the mansion.
The collection began with a member of the Board of Trustees of the museum, Jan Wet, who lent several prints for the exhibition.
Soon, the early print of "St. Jerome at the Cropped Willow" was presented to the museum by collector P. Warburg, who lived in New York, the collection began to replenish thanks to donations and acquisitions at auctions.
Gradually, the house-museum became the sole owner of a number of Rembrandt prints, including those printed on Japanese paper or become illustrations for rare books.
In the postwar years, prices for prints began to rise, and the museum was in a difficult position. The situation was saved by the will of de Bruyne, who left the museum with 40 engraving works. Among them were the unique first prints of Bathers, Descent from the Cross by the Light of the Torch, and Self-Portrait with Tousled Hair.
A special pride for the museum is the presence in the exposition of 4 engraving plates made of copper, on which Rembrandt made prints. Previously, the plates were included in a large collection of 78 copies and were mentioned among the property of C. de Jonge, an art dealer from Amsterdam. It is believed that de Jonge acquired them from Rembrandt himself.
The plate collection was auctioned in 1993, but the museum was entitled to be the first to select items for purchase. With the donated funds, the house museum acquired the most well-preserved 4 plates.
How to find
When buying a house, Rembrandt was attracted by the name of the street - exactly the same as in his native Leiden. Address of the Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam: ul. 4 Jodenbreestraat
On foot you can walk from pl. Dam and Waterloo quarter.
You can get to the station. m. Waterlooplein or trams number 14 and 9 to the stop. Visserplein.
The museum is open every day from 10 to 17 hours. Entrance fees are inexpensive: 8 euros for adults (about 600 rubles), for children under 15 years of age - 1.5 euros (a little more than 100 rubles).