The Cotman Collection | Rembrandt, Harmensz, van Rijn, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn

Dutch, 1606 - 1669


Throughout his career as a painter, Rembrandt also produced prints which stand in their own right as a major contribution to art. Quickly learning the technical skills, Rembrandt went on virtually to recreate this particular art form. Etching had been produced since the late fifteenth century, but to Rembrandt there were possibilities which had not been explored.
His early prints are made up of curving lines characteristic of the process where the artist draws on a copper plate through a ground of a resinous substance. Rembrandt was not just interested in the line but wished to give his prints all the depth and feeling of his paintings. For this reason the etchings become increasingly dark or employ means to give greater depth. Not content with using the etching needle Rembrandt also used the burin, really the engraver's tool, to cut lines directly on the metal plate. He also developed the use of drypoint, in which a steel point is used to throw up a curl or metal burr on either side of the groove, which then retains a film of ink around the line. The result is a velvety bloom in the areas where drypoint has been used.
Rembrandt made many alterations to his etchings and each time such a change was made on the plate, either by burnishing out, adding new lines or strengthening them with burin or drypoint, counts as a new 'state'. In extreme cases there were up to eleven states of the same etching.
The Leeds collection has an impressive range of examples of work from all periods. As well as producing the etchings it is accepted that Rembrandt also printed them himself because then he could be sure his conception of the image was carried out.
'Rembrandt Etchings in the Collection of Leeds City Art Gallery' - Alex Robertson