Netherlands celebrates Rembrandt’s 400th birthday

Year-long celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt van Rijn’s birth began in the Netherlands this week.

Queen Beatrix kicked off the festivities on Wednesday with her official launch of an art exhibition at the De Lakenhal Museum in Leiden, the 17th century master’s hometown.

The exhibit, titled Rembrandt’s Mother: Myth and Reality, has gathered works from collections across Europe and North America by Rembrandt, many of them featuring a single familiar face.

The artist did dozens of paintings, etchings and drawings of Corneilia Willemsdr van Zuytbrouck, also known as Neeltgen. Most art experts believe that the elderly woman is his mother.

The Netherlands will host more than 20 major events in 2006 to celebrate the anniversary of the prolific artist. These include walking tours of Leiden showing where Rembrandt lived and worked and the biographical show Rembrandt, the Musical at the renovated Royal Carré Theatre in Amsterdam.

[...] The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam plans an exhibit of his works alongside those of Caravaggio, the Italian artist renowned, like Rembrandt for his use of chiaroscuro.

Amsterdam’s famed Rijksmuseum has plans to bring out the stars of its collection — by Rembrandt and other favourite artists — for a “Masterworks” exhibit in 2006.

Other anticipated events include the release of British filmmaker Peter Greenaway’s Nightwatching, a biopic about Rembrandt centred on the creation of The Night Watch, one of his most famous paintings.

The Rijksmuseum, where The Night Watch is displayed, plans to mount an installation related to the Greenaway film next to the painting.

Officials hope to attract at least 250,000 visitors to the Netherlands for the festivities.

Read full article: CBC Arts, 15 December 2005