The Arts in New York City

Location: MET
Time: Sept. 16 @ 4:00 p.m.
Event: The Vanishing Rembrandts, a film

Up until the beginning of the 20th century, there were 1,000 paintings accredited to Rembrandt; now that number has decreased to 300. The Vanishing Rembrandts, a film shown at the MET, explains the controversial process of attribution of the Rembrandt paintings. The Rembrandt Research Project (RRP), founded in 1968 by the Dutch government, is a body of experts in the Arts that investigates Rembrandt paintings and decides upon their authenticity. Despite the Project’s integrity, many entities have challenged its reliability.

The RRP’s goals were to research and classify all of Rembrandt’s paintings, and publish their opinions about them in A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, in five volumes. Surprisingly, many of Rembrandt’s paintings were attributed to other artists, mainly to Rembrandt’s pupils. Some experts do not think that Rembrandt could have done 1,000 paintings. And many others argue that his pupils collaborated with most of his works. Many advanced techniques, such as dendrochronology, canvases weaving, x-radiograph and infra-red technology, and simple techniques, such as comparing paint samples, were used to determine the authenticity of the paintings.

Three decades of research has led to much disillusionment. Several of the famous paintings, such as Man in a Golden Helmet in Berlin and The Polish Rider are now considered to be fakes. The RRP even declared some of the Rembrandt paintings in renowned museums in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, and New York City, to be fakes. Most of the museums’ representatives argued back, and some of them even defied the RRP’s authority. Moreover, Otto Nauvamn, an art dealer, told collectors to sell their Rembrandt paintings before they lose value. Some paintings that were worth millions are now worth hundreds of thousands only.

The RRP’s process of attribution is very controversial due to its unreliability. For instance, the self-portrait of King Charles I and the painting of An Old Woman were once declared to be Rembrandt originals in Volume I of A Corpus, but are now considered to be fakes. This happened after the experts revised their opinions and published Volume IV of A Corpus. Even Peter van de Wetering, an expert working with the RRP, admitted that their opinions are unfixed. The Duke of Westminster, the richest man in England, was also a victim of the process of attribution. Out of the 15 paintings he owned, only one was considered to be authentic by the RRP. After realizing this, he said that the quality, rather than the authorship, of his works was more important. Julius Held, an Art History professor, denounced the RRP for its obsession with technical data, and neglect of superficial beauty and style.

Who is the authority? Why should individuals value the RRP’s opinions when they are unreliable? Who should we side with? Do you think Rembrandt could have possibly done 1,000 paintings over the course of his life? It does not matter where your beliefs lie. Do not let the ‘name’ of an artist intimidate you. Believe in your senses. Maybe the next masterpiece you see may be a fake too.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 10:35 am and is filed under Siwen Liao, WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.