Global Arab Network | Oman hosts exhibition of Rembrandt's artwork

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Oman hosts exhibition of Rembrandt's artwork

Global Arab Network - - Hannan Taha

Sunday, 23 August 2009 11:09

Sultanate of Oman became the first nation in the region to showcase the prints and engravings of the world renowned Dutch artist Rembrandt Van Rijn as Sayyid Haitham Bin Tareq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture, opened the exhibition at Grand Hyatt Hotel. This one month exhibition is organised in association with the Rembrandt House Museum and Al Salmy Library. A great Dutch master who is recognised as the pioneer in the art of etching, Rembrandt had produced hundreds of prints during his lifetime.

Apart form his sharp creativity; his technical skill was unmatched and uniquely versatile. He used a variety of subjects in his etchings that include portraits, landscapes and scenes from day-to-day life. Acclaimed as a noble deed to contribute towards presenting a prominent aesthetic outlook within the veins of the spirit of civilisation, which Arab artists, including painters and engravers, have tried to present for over a century, the exhibition has recreated the Rembrandt Museum of Amsterdam here at the Afrah ball room.

"We, through this small gesture aspire to two things", says Dr Abdulrahman, Al Salmi Library "Firstly, knowledge and understanding, and secondly, assessment and assimilation in the Islamic context that governs our vision of the world and its cultures and civilisations."

“There has been some confusion in the media about this show. It’s not Rembrandt’s paintings that will be displayed here, but his etchings,” Michiel Kersten, Assistant Director of the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam and a well-known art historian, told reporters here on Monday.

“In Rembrandt’s lifetime his fame was based on prints, which were sold and collected all over Europe. His achievements in etching were at least as important as his great mastery in the field of painting,” Kersten added. Most of the artist’s etchings were made between 1630 and 1655.

The artist produced 290 etchings between the age of 25 and 50 years; 250 of them are with the Rembrandt Museum, of which 79 will be on show in Muscat. The remaining 21 are from a private collection in Frankfurt.

Rembrandt, Kersten stressed, took his graphic art seriously, noting that the Dutch master was one of the first to develop etching “by using the scribbling strokes to produce extraordinary and expressive lines.”

Stefan Van Wersch, Dutch Ambassador, Janrense K Boonstra, Director, Rembrandt House Museum, Ahmed al Hooti, Christoph Franzen, General Manager Grand Hyatt Muscat were also present at the inaugural ceremony. The exhibition is on till 19 September.

Global Arab Network

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