Arthur Mayger Hind

“ A few etchers of the last two or three generations have taken a step further or aside in this or that direction, more particularly in the art of landscape, but even Whistler, at once the supreme virtuoso and the greatest individuality of nineteenth-century etching, falls far short of Rembrandt in the one thing which makes or mars genius of the highest order, i.e. depth of humanity, without surpassing him in the technical mastery of expressive line. ”

“ Even the Hundred Guilder Print (236) holds its unrivalled place in the art of etching rather for the genius that overcame supreme difficulties than for the supreme fitness of the style in relation to the medium. Rembrandt never showed the breadth of his sympathy and his powers of observation better than in this plate, but for grandeur of conception, concentration of material, and a vigorous handling more in keeping with the scale of his subject, he attained a nobler—I think his noblest—creation in the Three Crosses (270) . ”

“ Nevertheless as works for the most part uncommissioned and less lucrative than the paintings, we may take it that the etchings are a true reflection of the actual tendency of Rembrandt's genius when least affected by demands from outside. In his etched work we find that portraits are much less numerous, and by far the largest place is given to the subjects from scripture, treated with the same reality that characterises his sketches from daily life. ”

“ It is perhaps still not superfluous to emphasise the fact that the etchings of Rembrandt (as of nearly all the painter-engravers or etchers) are original works distinct in methods and aims from the paintings or works in any other medium. In Rembrandt's work of rather more than three hundred etchings there are scarcely half a dozen subjects that correspond with his pictures. In general the original engraver or etcher conceives and carries out his design in specific relation to its medium; its expression in another would demand an entirely different treatment. ”

“ Rembrandt worked on copper in pure etching and dry-point. In pure etching the plate is first covered with a thin layer or ground of wax composition; the etcher draws through this ground (which offers scarcely any resistance) with an etching needle, opening up the [pg 7] surface of the copper where he wishes his lines to appear. The plate is then put in a bath of acid which bites the furrows in the unprotected parts of the plate, i.e. wherever the needle has been drawn through the ground. ”

“ A very large proportion of his early etchings are studies of seperate figures. Only by this constant study of pieces of life was perfected the power by which his greater conceptions were realised with such unity of effect.
[pg 9] Rembrandt took longer than many a weaker artist to reach his maturity, not that his progress was slower, but the maturity much higher, and even his old age seemed like youth in its perennial receptivity and power of vigorous growth. ”

“ Rembrandt's affection for scriptural subjects is a striking fact in face of the general character of Dutch art in the seventeenth century. The reformation in Holland seems to have helped towards the exclusion of art from the domain of religion ”

“ This curl of metal, or “burr” (a term also applied to the velvety tone which it causes) , is extremely delicate, and a comparatively few impressions suffice to level it with the surface of the copper, and leave the effect a mere ghost of the artist's intention. So that rich impressions from dry-points are infinitely rarer than good ones from the pure etchings, which often yield hundreds of prints without greatly deteriorating in quality. ”

“ The curl of metal thrown up at the side of the line is not scraped away as in line-engraving, where the aim is clearness of designs, but left to hold the ink, enwrapping the line, as printed from the furrows, in a rich cloudy tone. ”

“ First state, before adding shading on the neck of the ass, r. Only nine impressions of this state are known, two being in the British Museum239, I. CANAL WITH A LARGE BOAT AND BRIDGE. 1650. B. 236242, I. LANDSCAPE WITH A MILKMAN. (1650.) B. 213244, III. LANDSCAPE WITH TREES, FARM BUILDINGS AND A TOWER. (1650.) B. 223. The two earlier states show the tower surmounted by a. cupola, which was burnished out to increase the concentration of the subject249. THE GOLDWEIGHER'S FIELD. 1651. B. 234251, I. CLEMENT DE JONGHE, PRINTSELLER. 1651. B. 272252. THE BLINDNESS OF TOBIT: THE LARGER PLATE. 1651. ”

“ Rembrandt, With a Complete List of his Etchings
Arthur M. Hind
Fredk. A. Stokes Company
1912
144, II. Rembrandt and his Wife, Saskia, 1636, B. 19
Contents REMBRANDTBOOKS OF REFERENCEA CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF REMBRANDT'S ETCHINGS
Illustrations 144, II. Rembrandt and his Wife, Saskia, 1636, B. 191, I. REMBRANDT'S MOTHER, Unfinished state. 1628: B. 354.7, I. BEGGAR MAN AND BEGGAR WOMAN CONVERSING. 1630. B. 16420, I. CHRIST DISPUTING WITH THE DOCTORS: SMALL PLATE. 1630. B. 6623, I. BALD-HEADED MAN (REMBRANDT'S FATHER?) In profile r.; head only, bust added afterwards. 1630. B. 292. ”