Getty curator Lee Hendrix: "Rembrandt was fascinated by old
people. Maes took that aspect of his work and made a specialty of old
women. Rembrandt's drawing [uses] a huge range of strokes. He smudged
the chalk to convey the sheen of the woman's hood, used energetic
strokes on the less finished arms and skirt, and drew this amazing face
in detail. Then we have Maes, with his very fine style that's
consistent throughout the whole drawing." The Dutch master's "Old Woman With a Large Headdress" is at left. "Old Woman Asleep" by Nicolaes Maes is at right. (J. Paul Getty Museum)
LA Times - "The show pairs works considered to be by the master with drawings of the same or similar subjects by 15 other artists.
Who done it? In the case of Rembrandt, it's a persistent question.Hundreds of paintings formerly attributed to the 17th century Dutch master have been demoted in the course of a massive research project funded by the Dutch government and investigations by specialists around the world. And the work goes on.
A separate effort to determine who actually made unsigned drawings ascribed to Rembrandt is no less daunting -- or intriguing -- as an upcoming exhibition reveals.
“Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference,” opening Dec. 8 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, contains 103 drawings, 53 of them by Rembrandt. Of the 50 works presented as the work of other artists, 27 were once thought to be Rembrandts. Who decides?
"Most people think it's like the pope, just sitting up there pronouncing what's Rembrandt or not, but it's not that way," says Lee Hendrix, the Getty's senior curator of drawings who organized the show with Peter Schatborn of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Holm Bevers of the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett and William W. Robinson of the Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Mass.
"This is the culmination of 30 years' work. It's been a world effort, and many people have contributed. Up until now all the scholarship has been dispersed in museum catalogs and articles. This exhibition brings it all together and lays it out in lucid terms so that anyone can understand. We are demystifying the process, saying this is the way it was done and you can do it too."
The show -- which will appear only in Los Angeles -- pairs works deemed to be by Rembrandt with drawings of the same or similar subjects by 15 other artists, including one whose name is unknown and Jan Lievens, a Rembrandt compatriot who was not his student. All the pairs are arranged with the Rembrandt on the left side. Most of the pupils' works come from periods spent in his Amsterdam studio, a lively center known to have attracted more than 50 students over nearly 40 years of operation.
