Rembrandt at the Denver Art Museum

Rembrandt - Painter as Printmaker is currently showing at the Denver Art Museum. I went to see the exhibit Friday morning with a friend. If I needed validation in redoing paintings, I got it here. This is one prime example of Rembrandt redoing a plate. As shown in the tag, the top one was the 3rd State and the bottom is the 8th State or rendition. It is like doing one of those puzzles as kids to find out what is different between two pictures. He made some major changes! There were many examples of such plate states. This particular one was larger than most and so much action going on.

To be fair,  Rembrandt often changed the plate for a client. So someone who may have liked the overall theme of this print may not have liked the crowd scene so it was removed. Or wanted more architectural details, so those were added. It was a fascinating display of an old world master. Some of his early prints were barely 1.25" x 1.25" and yet with remarkable detail and emotion. It was gratifying to see so many people there engaged in his mastery of his medium. And not just mastery but a leading edge on technique as well. I highly recommend going to see this exhibit. It is up through early January.