Remembering Rembrandt
Simon Stephens visits Holland to find out how Dutch museums and tourist bodies have joined forces to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth
For people who don't like Rembrandt, Amsterdam is not the place to be this year. Just after you step off the plane at the city's Schiphol Airport, there is an exhibition in the terminal celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Dutch painter's birth.
But what many museums in Amsterdam and elsewhere are banking on, is that most people are fans of the Dutch 17th-century master, and that he will be a major draw throughout 2006.
Rembrandt does seem to be a huge attraction and Dutch tourist bodies are reporting strong visitor figures to the many exhibitions already underway, and worldwide media interest in the celebrations. But why are modern audiences so fascinated by the artist and his work?
'Rembrandt's abiding appeal has to do with his ability to capture something of the essence of people in his portraits, as well as his accomplished handling of light and shade,' says Axel Rüger, the former curator of Dutch paintings at London's National Gallery, who has just taken up a new post as the director of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum.
'It seems that it is also the handling and manipulating of the paint, the coarser brushwork, especially in his late pictures, that is appealing to modern audiences. His appeal probably also rests on the fact that there are so many self-portraits by Rembrandt, so people are familiar with his face and they get the impression that they somehow know Rembrandt.'
Jaap van der Veen, the curator at Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum, also thinks the artist's subject matter is important. He says: 'The high level of Rembrandt's art, both in his paintings, etchings and drawings, attracts many people, and was also recognised by Rembrandt's contemporaries. Maybe also the subjects Rembrandt chose and the convincing, even personal way he visualised them is important.'
Amsterdam, Rembrandt's home for many years, is the main focus for the anniversary. But there are also events in his birthplace Leiden, and the Hague. The Rembrandt 400 celebrations are being coordinated by a foundation that was set up to provide a central point for all the activities.
The board of the foundation includes representatives from the City of Leiden, the Rembrandt House Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions. The foundation is responsible for the international and national marketing, while the board decides which exhibitions are on the main programme of events.
One of the challenges in creating the programme was the need to find new things to say about such a familiar artist. 'The truth of the situation is that we have been slightly overwhelmed with shows about Rembrandt in the past few years and every possible aspect of his life has been put under close scrutiny,' Rüger says. 'But how can you not do something in his 400th anniversary, although it was clear that it was not the right time for a big retrospective.'
So while there are some big shows, there is no major retrospective as part of Rembrandt 400 as the last one, Rembrandt: The Master and his Workshop, was seen in Amsterdam, Berlin and London in 1992.
The biggest exhibition this year is Rembrandt-Caravaggio, which runs until 18 June. It is being held at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum because most of the Rijksmuseum, which holds one of the world's most important Rembrandt collections, is closed for redevelopment.
The links between Rembrandt and Caravaggio are well documented, but this is the first time the two painters' works have been shown together. It is also the first time that any work by the Italian artist has appeared in the Netherlands since 1952.
Most other museums do not have the pulling power of the Rijksmuseum in terms of being able to obtain loans, but fortunately Rembrandt was a reasonably prolific artist, producing about 600 paintings, but also 300 etchings and 2,000 drawings, so there is quite a lot of him to go round.
The Rembrandt House Museum holds a large collection of the artist's etchings, so two of its exhibitions are based on this aspect of his work. But its major show, created by renowned Rembrandt scholar Ernst van de Wetering and Jan Kelch, the former director of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, does feature loaned paintings. Called Rembrandt: the Quest of a Genius, it is on until 2 July.
Museums have had to be inventive in the development of their exhibitions and this has often meant concentrating on Rembrandt the person, rather than just Rembrandt the artist. His life was a certainly eventful, and included fame and fortune, but also bankruptcy, poverty and various traumatic family bereavements, including the death of his wife, Saskia.
The Rembrandt 400 programme includes exhibitions about his mother, his personal documents and his abilities as a storyteller. There is also a musical about Rembrandt, a theatrical installation by UK film director Peter Greenaway featuring Rembrandt's famous Nightwatch painting, and a Rembrandt-themed festival of ice sculpture.
The scope of the activity has meant that even some of Amsterdam's less well-known museums have been able to mount Rembrandt exhibitions and have the support of the Rembrandt 400 foundation.
The Jewish Historical Museum has developed The Jewish Rembrandt, which assesses the validity of recent descriptions of him as a Jewish artist. This show, which starts on 10 November, will be the opening exhibition in the revamped museum, which will feature a children's museum and a permanent display about the history of Jews in Holland in the 20th century.
'It is hard for smaller museums to compete with the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh,' says Daniël Bouw, the head of communications at the Jewish Historical Museum. 'But thanks to Rembrandt 400 we will get a lot of coverage and they will present us in an equal way. We are sure to benefit from their efforts to inform the media and the public.'
As well as the smaller museums, the city of Leiden is gaining from the greater exposure provided by a central body. The Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal is the main focus for Rembrandt activity, with three main exhibitions: Rembrandt's Mother (which ended in March) followed by Rembrandt the Storyteller. It will finish the year with a show about the his portrayal of landscapes.
Mia van Iterson, a spokeswoman for the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, says that even though 'most publicity is about Amsterdam, we have had free publicity all over the world from December 2005 onwards, so the Rembrandt 400 organisation is certainly a success.'
Gerben Baaij from the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions is a member of the Rembrandt Foundation board. He says that the success of the organisation is based on learning from the mistakes of past cultural projects.
'Past programmes were very top-down, with a curator deciding on all the exhibitions and marketing' Baaij says. 'Rembrandt 400 is very much a bottom-up programme. And we have broken with the past and decided not to make it a very big organisation with lots of people running around.'
Baaij says that once clear goals were set, it became easier for the cities, tourist bodies and museums to work together, although it was not a simple process.
'People were open about their plans, but it took a little time,' Baaij says. 'Once everyone knew what the others were doing, the cooperation was a natural process. What was more important, and perhaps more difficult, was giving everyone the feeling that they were involved and would benefit, which is about learning to trust each other.'
Rembrandt 400 will publish interim results of its efforts in the middle of the year, but Baaij is already confident it will achieve its target of 1.5 million visits to Rembrandt exhibitions from Holland and abroad.
Indeed the success of the cooperation has led to plans for a big push in 2009 under the Holland: Art Cities catchline. This will be linked to a number of major museum openings around that time.
In Amsterdam alone, the Stedelijk Museum will open in 2008 and will be followed the revamped Rijksmuseum in 2009, when the city's film museum will also unveil its new home.
Perhaps, especially in the light of the Olympics, the UK could learn a thing or two from Holland about combining numerous museum and non-museum activities and supporting them with an extensive overseas and domestic marketing campaign.
But what many museums in Amsterdam and elsewhere are banking on, is that most people are fans of the Dutch 17th-century master, and that he will be a major draw throughout 2006.
Rembrandt does seem to be a huge attraction and Dutch tourist bodies are reporting strong visitor figures to the many exhibitions already underway, and worldwide media interest in the celebrations. But why are modern audiences so fascinated by the artist and his work?
'Rembrandt's abiding appeal has to do with his ability to capture something of the essence of people in his portraits, as well as his accomplished handling of light and shade,' says Axel Rüger, the former curator of Dutch paintings at London's National Gallery, who has just taken up a new post as the director of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum.
'It seems that it is also the handling and manipulating of the paint, the coarser brushwork, especially in his late pictures, that is appealing to modern audiences. His appeal probably also rests on the fact that there are so many self-portraits by Rembrandt, so people are familiar with his face and they get the impression that they somehow know Rembrandt.'
Jaap van der Veen, the curator at Amsterdam's Rembrandt House Museum, also thinks the artist's subject matter is important. He says: 'The high level of Rembrandt's art, both in his paintings, etchings and drawings, attracts many people, and was also recognised by Rembrandt's contemporaries. Maybe also the subjects Rembrandt chose and the convincing, even personal way he visualised them is important.'
Amsterdam, Rembrandt's home for many years, is the main focus for the anniversary. But there are also events in his birthplace Leiden, and the Hague. The Rembrandt 400 celebrations are being coordinated by a foundation that was set up to provide a central point for all the activities.
The board of the foundation includes representatives from the City of Leiden, the Rembrandt House Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions. The foundation is responsible for the international and national marketing, while the board decides which exhibitions are on the main programme of events.
One of the challenges in creating the programme was the need to find new things to say about such a familiar artist. 'The truth of the situation is that we have been slightly overwhelmed with shows about Rembrandt in the past few years and every possible aspect of his life has been put under close scrutiny,' Rüger says. 'But how can you not do something in his 400th anniversary, although it was clear that it was not the right time for a big retrospective.'
So while there are some big shows, there is no major retrospective as part of Rembrandt 400 as the last one, Rembrandt: The Master and his Workshop, was seen in Amsterdam, Berlin and London in 1992.
The biggest exhibition this year is Rembrandt-Caravaggio, which runs until 18 June. It is being held at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum because most of the Rijksmuseum, which holds one of the world's most important Rembrandt collections, is closed for redevelopment.
The links between Rembrandt and Caravaggio are well documented, but this is the first time the two painters' works have been shown together. It is also the first time that any work by the Italian artist has appeared in the Netherlands since 1952.
Most other museums do not have the pulling power of the Rijksmuseum in terms of being able to obtain loans, but fortunately Rembrandt was a reasonably prolific artist, producing about 600 paintings, but also 300 etchings and 2,000 drawings, so there is quite a lot of him to go round.
The Rembrandt House Museum holds a large collection of the artist's etchings, so two of its exhibitions are based on this aspect of his work. But its major show, created by renowned Rembrandt scholar Ernst van de Wetering and Jan Kelch, the former director of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, does feature loaned paintings. Called Rembrandt: the Quest of a Genius, it is on until 2 July.
Museums have had to be inventive in the development of their exhibitions and this has often meant concentrating on Rembrandt the person, rather than just Rembrandt the artist. His life was a certainly eventful, and included fame and fortune, but also bankruptcy, poverty and various traumatic family bereavements, including the death of his wife, Saskia.
The Rembrandt 400 programme includes exhibitions about his mother, his personal documents and his abilities as a storyteller. There is also a musical about Rembrandt, a theatrical installation by UK film director Peter Greenaway featuring Rembrandt's famous Nightwatch painting, and a Rembrandt-themed festival of ice sculpture.
The scope of the activity has meant that even some of Amsterdam's less well-known museums have been able to mount Rembrandt exhibitions and have the support of the Rembrandt 400 foundation.
The Jewish Historical Museum has developed The Jewish Rembrandt, which assesses the validity of recent descriptions of him as a Jewish artist. This show, which starts on 10 November, will be the opening exhibition in the revamped museum, which will feature a children's museum and a permanent display about the history of Jews in Holland in the 20th century.
'It is hard for smaller museums to compete with the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh,' says Daniël Bouw, the head of communications at the Jewish Historical Museum. 'But thanks to Rembrandt 400 we will get a lot of coverage and they will present us in an equal way. We are sure to benefit from their efforts to inform the media and the public.'
As well as the smaller museums, the city of Leiden is gaining from the greater exposure provided by a central body. The Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal is the main focus for Rembrandt activity, with three main exhibitions: Rembrandt's Mother (which ended in March) followed by Rembrandt the Storyteller. It will finish the year with a show about the his portrayal of landscapes.
Mia van Iterson, a spokeswoman for the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, says that even though 'most publicity is about Amsterdam, we have had free publicity all over the world from December 2005 onwards, so the Rembrandt 400 organisation is certainly a success.'
Gerben Baaij from the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions is a member of the Rembrandt Foundation board. He says that the success of the organisation is based on learning from the mistakes of past cultural projects.
'Past programmes were very top-down, with a curator deciding on all the exhibitions and marketing' Baaij says. 'Rembrandt 400 is very much a bottom-up programme. And we have broken with the past and decided not to make it a very big organisation with lots of people running around.'
Baaij says that once clear goals were set, it became easier for the cities, tourist bodies and museums to work together, although it was not a simple process.
'People were open about their plans, but it took a little time,' Baaij says. 'Once everyone knew what the others were doing, the cooperation was a natural process. What was more important, and perhaps more difficult, was giving everyone the feeling that they were involved and would benefit, which is about learning to trust each other.'
Rembrandt 400 will publish interim results of its efforts in the middle of the year, but Baaij is already confident it will achieve its target of 1.5 million visits to Rembrandt exhibitions from Holland and abroad.
Indeed the success of the cooperation has led to plans for a big push in 2009 under the Holland: Art Cities catchline. This will be linked to a number of major museum openings around that time.
In Amsterdam alone, the Stedelijk Museum will open in 2008 and will be followed the revamped Rijksmuseum in 2009, when the city's film museum will also unveil its new home.
Perhaps, especially in the light of the Olympics, the UK could learn a thing or two from Holland about combining numerous museum and non-museum activities and supporting them with an extensive overseas and domestic marketing campaign.