The Rembrandt House Museum ( nl, Museum Het Rembrandthuis) is a museum located in a former house in the Jodenbreestraat, in the center of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Between 1639 and 1658, the house was occupied by the well-known Dutch painter

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consi ...

, who also had his studio and art dealership there. The house was built around 1606 and was renovated around 1627, probably under the supervision of

Jacob van Campen Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age. Life He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hand ...

. It was then given an extra floor and a new facade with a triangular

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

. Rembrandt bought it on January 5, 1639 for thirteen thousand

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

. After his bankruptcy it was auctioned in 1658 and sold for eleven thousand guilders. In the following centuries it was used as a residence and was renovated several times. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building was in poor condition, and on the occasion of the Rembrandt Year in 1906, it was purchased in 1907 by the municipality of Amsterdam, which donated it to the Rembrandthuis foundation. Between 1907 and 1911 the house was restored by Karel de Bazel. The museum was opened on June 10, 1911.

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

and Prince Hendrik were the first visitors. The Rembrandt House Museum owes its foundation to an initiative by the painter

Jozef Israëls Jozef Israëls (27 January 1824 – 12 August 1911) was a Dutch painter. He was a leading member of the group of landscape painters referred to as the Hague School and, during his lifetime, "the most respected Dutch artist of the second half o ...

. Since 2008, the museum had around 200,000 visitors per year, with a record number of over 280.000 visitors in 2019.

Rembrandt's house

The current museum shows Rembrandt's living and working quarters, including his living room, art room and the studio where he created his masterpieces. The building was redesigned in the 20th century on the basis of the inventory that was drawn up during Rembrandt's bankruptcy in 1656. This gives the visitor an idea of Rembrandt's daily life, his studio practice and what a private house and artist's studio looked like in the 17th century. In Rembrandt's old house there are also works of art from the 17th century, including by Rembrandt's teacher

Pieter Lastman Pieter Lastman (1583–1633) was a Dutch painter. Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens. In his paintings Lastman paid careful attention to t ...

and his pupils

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

and

Govert Flinck Govert (or Govaert) Teuniszoon Flinck (25 January 16152 February 1660) was a Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Life Born at Kleve, capital of the Duchy of Cleves, which was occupied at the time by the United Provinces, he was apprenticed by ...

Collection

The Rembrandt House Museum owns an almost complete collection of

etchings Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

by Rembrandt. These are regularly displayed in the etching cabinet and in temporary exhibitions in the modern museum wing. In 2019, material-technical research showed that two pots ('grapes') found in 1997 in Rembrandt's cesspool were in fact used by the artist. One of the pots contains remnants of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

soil. This is a mixture of quartz and clay with which Rembrandt prepared his canvases before painting. Leonore van Sloten, curator of Museum Het Rembrandthuis, said about this in the newspaper Het Parool: “Rembrandt started using so-called quartz soil from the moment he lived in what is now the museum, and as far as we know is the only one who this did. A mixture of quartz and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

was probably convenient for him from a practical and financial point of view.” The two pots are on display in the museum. In 2021, The Rembrandt House Museum received a painting from Mr. and Mrs. Hoogsteder to support the museum during the Covid crisis. The new acquisition is the painting ''Shepherdess in a Landscape'' from ca. 1641, made by

, one of Rembrandt's most famous pupils. The painting hangs in Rembrandt's former living room and bedroom. In 2022, the museum purchased four contemporary works of art by

Natasja Kensmil Natasja is a given name, and may refer to: *Natasja Crone Back, Danish journalist *Natasja Saad (1974–2007), Danish reggae and dancehall artist known as "Natasja"' or "Little T" * Natalya Panina (ballroom) *Natasja Shah, (1972-) Trinidad poet * N ...

and Milan Gies. The museum also owns contemporary art by (amongst others)

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter currently based in the Netherlands. Life and work Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father had ...

, Reinder Homan, Iriée Zamblé and Timothy Voges. Rembrandt House MuseumDSCF7281.jpg, Bed-sitting room. The 17th-century bed did not belong to Rembrandt, but is similar to the original. Rembrandt House MuseumDSCF7288.jpg, Rembrandt's collection room recreated

Exhibitions

The modern museum wing hosts temporary exhibitions throughout the year with works of art by Rembrandt, his contemporaries and his (contemporary) followers. During the national Rembrandt Year in 2019, The Rembrandt House Museum showed three exhibitions: ''Rembrandt's Social Network'', ''Inspired by Rembrandt'' and ''Laboratory Rembrandt.'' Other high-profile exhibits were ''Peter Vos: Metamorphosis'' (2016), ''Rembrandt's Naked Truth'' (2016), ''Glenn Brown'' (2017), ''Govert Flinck and Ferdinand Bol'' (2017-2018), ''HERE. Black in Rembrandt's time'' (2020), ''Hansken, Rembrandt's Elephant'' (2021) and ''RAW'' (2022).

References

External links

Rembrandt House Museum
official website {{ACArt 1911 establishments in the Netherlands Art museums and galleries in the Netherlands Art museums established in 1911 Biographical museums in the Netherlands Historic house museums in the Netherlands Houses completed in 1607 Museums devoted to one artist Museums in Amsterdam Rembrandt Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam

Rembrandt's house

Collection

Exhibitions

See also

References

External links