Description

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One of the most fascinating aspects of Rembrandt’s oeuvre are his landscape drawings, around 260 of which have survived. Wandering through the city of Amsterdam, he depicted neighbourhoods, canals, and houses along the city wall and bulwarks with picturesque windmills as well as distinctive individual buildings. Again and again he ventured into the surrounding landscape along the Amstel River or on the Kadijk and Diemerdijk, capturing characteristic scenes in quick sketches with pen and brush or black chalk. He was especially drawn to farmsteads with their neighbouring haystacks and groups of trees, depicting them in very different ways under changing conditions of light and weather. While some of his landscape studies are more expressive of an inner vision, in others the artist seeks to render the richness and beauty of natural forms with great attention to detail. In the late drawings, individual features dissolve into an atmosphere suffused with light and air.

About the Author

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Achim Gnann: Born on 28 August 1961 in Karlsruhe (Germany). 1981 A-levels at the Goethe-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe. 1982 Start of studies at the Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen/Nuremberg with the combination of Art History/Modern History/Education. 1989 Magister Artium. 1994 Doctorate on the Roman interior decorations of Polidoro da Carvaggio. Teaching assignments in Vienna, Graz, and Passau. Since 2005 curator for Italian drawings and prints at the Albertina in Vienna.