Celebrate Rembrandt’s 403rd Birthday

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA — The Bowers Museum is inviting the public to join in its celebration of the 403rd birthday of Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn. The event, on Wednesday, July 15, will include performances, art projects, and a film screening.

From 10am to 4pm, museum visitors who dress up as Rembrandt or wear their favorite Renaissance costumes will receive free admission all day long. Those in costume will also receive a free piece of cake with any purchase at the museum café.

The exhibition, Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt’s Etchings, features 35 rare etchings executed between 1629 and 1654 and is currently on view at The Bowers Museum until August 23.

In his essay for the exhibition catalogue, Gary Schwartz – Dutch author, art historian, and editor of The Complete Etchings of Rembrandt – writes:

“The image of the beggar in Netherlandish art was no better than in society as a whole. It would not then have been out of line with the convictions of his society, with Netherlandish artistic tradition or classical art theory, had Rembrandt depicted beggars as contemptible or loathsome creatures. Indeed, some of his work fits perfectly well into this picture.

This kind of crossover between street life and sacred history matches a pattern that is found elsewhere in Rembrandt’s work. Mean and sordid though they may have been in life and in art theory, in Rembrandt’s etchings beggars are bestowed with sanctity and individuality.

This constellation of images and of markets – from the pennies paid for small etchings of beggars to the veritable fortunes Rembrandt earned for paintings for the stadholder – shows how essential Rembrandt’s etchings of beggars were in his formative years as an artist. The way he imagined the beggar is inextricable from the way he imagined himself, the way he imagined Christ, the way he conceived of imagery itself.”

Rembrandt van Rijn is widely recognized as the greatest practitioner of the etching technique in the history of art.

• For more on Rembrandt’s birthday event, visit www.bowers.org
• To  learn more about the exhibit, visit www.a-r-t.com/rembrandt

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Have you seen the new Park West Gallery website dedicated to Rembrandt and his etchings? Please visit rembrandt.parkwestgallery.com and share your feedback below!

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The Art Books of Henri Matisse at the Haggin Museum

[Source: www.hagginmuseum.org]

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA — Now through September 20,  the Haggin Museum presents The Art Books of Henri Matisse, an exhibition of original illustrations and text by one of the preeminent artists of the 20th century.

Best known for his boldly colored paintings, Matisse began experimenting with printmaking in 1903 and eventually illustrated 12 books, each issued in a limited edition and signed by the artist. The exhibition includes text and original illustrations from four of Matisse’s most artistically significant books.

Henri Matisse influenced a diverse number of art movements, artists, and schools of thought. His influence and innovations continue to inspire scholarship, interest and appreciation among art historians and lovers of art. Over the course of his 60-year career, he created a body of work that comprised paintings, drawings, prints, cutouts and sculpture, as well as costume and stage set designs.

Matisse was in his sixties and a renowned artist when he began to make books. Though the making of books was a new artistic realm for Matisse, he regarded the prints he created for books as an extension of drawing. The same flowing lines that characterized so many of his paintings carried over to the printmaking medium and related illustrations.

Among the printmaking techniques he used were etching, linoleum cuts, and lithography. While there are many shared elements between Matisse’s painting and his book illustration, there were some constraints that informed his process and approach. In book illustration, the goal was to establish a relationship between drawing and the existing text.

Working within the defined space of a book also created practical limitations not typical in painting. Visual images can be absorbed instantaneously, while the absorption of text requires a slower process of reading and analysis. For this reason, book illustration is valuable not only as an art form but also as a unique combination of the written word and visual art.

• For more information on the exhibit visit www.hagginmuseum.org
• Learn more about artist Henri Matisse
• View artwork selections from the Matisse collection at Park West Gallery

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Henri Matisse once said, “Creativity takes courage,” – do you agree?

Renoir Retrospective: Promise of Happiness at The Seoul Museum of Art

SEOUL, KOREA — The largest exhibit of  Pierre-Auguste Renoir artworks ever to be held in Korea is being shown at the Seoul Museum of Art, now through September 13, 2009.

The premier retrospective, entitled Renoir: The Promise of Happiness, features 118 works, including 70 oil paintings and sketches by the French Impressionist. The exhibit focuses on the artist’s most well-known works arranged around central themes like Bathers and Nudes, Images of Women and Happiness of Daily Life.

Renoir, known as an artist who never painted tragedies, followed the philosophy, “A picture has to be something pleasant, delightful and pretty.” In the 5,000 oil paintings he completed during his lifetime, Renoir desired to convey joy – a world where the viewer would forget their worries and experience true happiness.

• For more information on the exhibit visit www.renoirseoul.com
• Read more about artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• View artwork selections from the Renoir collection at Park West Gallery

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Renoir once said, “Painting should be the gift of joy to clear the soul,” – do you agree? What is your creative philosophy?