25 March 2012

Look.

Rembrandt, Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed, 1630


The 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn is so exalted that his name, like those of Michelangelo, Shakespeare and Tolstoy, is synonymous with the idea of genius in Western culture.

Nevertheless, it's easy to stroll quickly by one of Rembrandt's moody, atmospheric portraits or religious paintings and check it off the great cultural bucket list of life: Been there, seen that.

The Cleveland Museum of Art, in its new exhibition, "Rembrandt in America," has something different in mind. It wants you to slow down, to look closely and to grapple with factors that separate the master from his many followers, with whom his output was often confused by American collectors eager to own a piece of a legend.


Read the rest at cleveland.com

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