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Following the quest of a genius

AMSTERDAM: Not since Rembrandt lived here have so many of his works been gathered under the roof where he painted them.

Now, take them in chronological order, all 50 of them, and look for the common thread, the evolution of his art, the telltale style that one supposes he developed over a 45-year career. Look, too, for the expression of Rembrandt's personality in his art.

You won't find any of that.

An exhibition that opened Saturday, the latest and largest event celebrating the 400th year of Rembrandt's birth, seeks to dispel some of the myths that shroud the man and his work.

The venue is Rembrandt House, the four-story gabled home where the Dutch master lived for 19 years before his overwhelming mortgage and spendthrift ways drove him into bankruptcy.

Masterpieces

"Rembrandt — Quest of a Genius," assembled about one-sixth of the paintings firmly attributed to the master. About 20 of them were painted in this house.

Portraits and biblical scenes cover the walls of the entrance room, where clients waited to see the artist, and of the anteroom where Rembrandt greeted his patrons with a glass of wine and traded artworks. They fill his workshop and the top-floor studios where he taught students and painted many of his masterpieces.

Among them are two works recently rediscovered in Warsaw, "Scholar at his Desk" and the cover-item of the exhibition's catalogue, "Girl in a Picture Frame."

Even the basement kitchen has an exquisite piece, the small image of a maid in a white bonnet that was auctioned to a private New York collector for $4.3 million in London in January.

Rembrandt, who was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606 and died in Amsterdam in 1669, lived in the house until 1658. It was reconstructed as a museum in 1999 based on Rembrandt's own drawings and a notary's inventory that compiled all his possessions to pay off his debts.

Breaking stereotypes

Ernst van de Wetering, head of the Rembrandt Research Project, says one purpose of the exhibit is to break free of the stubborn popular images of Rembrandt as a misunderstood, impoverished, self-willed artist who disregarded all the rules of his craft.

"The idea of this exhibition is a search in genius, someone who's searching, not going through an evolution, but who's thinking about his profession very profoundly," he said.

The exhibition includes paintings that Rembrandt completed in a single day, and at least one on which he worked for 10 years. An audio tour highlights his use of light and shadow and his changing ideas of portraying motion. — AP

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