Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference
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This catalogue explores the workings of Rembrandt's studio in the form of drawings made by the master himself and fifteen of his pupils.Library JournalThese two books make an excellent pendant pair. Slive (emeritus professor, Harvard; author of catalogues raisonnés on Frans Hals and Jacob van Ruisdael) presents over 150 drawings accepted by experts as authentic while Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils represents 30 years of Getty-sponsored scholarship on the 40-year life of Rembrandt's studio. Signed catalog entries are authored by several Rembrandt scholars. Both lavishly illustrated books introduce the reader to Rembrandt's life and artistic style and to the studio/apprentice system of training artists in his day. Rembrandt's students began by copying as closely as possible the master's work for practice in improving their own abilities. Later, when their skills warranted, apprentices also copied the master's work to sell, not as forgeries but as lower-priced copies. This resulted in the survival of almost identical works from Rembrandt's and his students' hands. Just as Rembrandt stored his own collection, Rembrandt Drawings is thematically arranged by subject including women, women and children, religious subjects, buildings, and more. Slive describes each theme and how the drawings within each theme relate to one another, Rembrandt's style, and contemporary events. Drawings by Rembrandt juxtaposes two or more Rembrandt drawings with those of his pupils and discusses the historical and stylistic evidence used by historians to identify correctly the artist. Both books include time lines, indexes, bibliographies, and locations of works in museums. VERDICT Written in a relaxed, easy-to-read style, both books will prove useful to studio artists, art history students, and more-than-interested general readers.—Nancy J.Mactague, Aurora Univ., IL
