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REMBRANDT VAN RUNAT the centre of Dutch Art—in point both of time and of importance, as well as from the extent of his productions—stands Rembrandt van Rijn. Even if Rembrandt had not been an artist of genius, he must have aroused our interest moreMoreREMBRANDT VAN RUNAT the centre of Dutch Art—in point both of time and of importance, as well as from the extent of his productions—stands Rembrandt van Rijn. Even if Rembrandt had not been an artist of genius, he must have aroused our interest more than almost any other Dutch painter: so rich and varied is the work he left behind him. We have more than 600 of his paintings- the number of his etchings is greater than that of any other early painter-etcher, and his astonishing fertility as a draughtsman is attested by more than a thousand drawings from his hand. From the inventory of his sale we know that these drawings represent only a small part of his actual work as a draughtsman. £NO painter, with the exception of Rubens, who reached nearly the same age, can be compared with Rembrandt in creative power and productiveness^ none has a more extended range of treatment- above all, he is unrivalled in the individuality of his art, in the breadth and profundity of his ideas, no less than in their pictorial rendering.No special pleading is needed for Rembrandt to-day. The artist comes nearer our modern view of art than Raphael or Michael Angelo- he is equally esteemed, and paid for as highly by collectors. When, some sixty years ago,Eugene Delacroix wrote in his diary : Perhaps we shall one day find out that Rembrandt is a greater painter than Raphael, 1 he added, half apologetically: I write down this blasphemy, which will cause the hair of the schoolmen to stand on end, without taking sides. Rembrandt is so popular to-day that his name is occasionally misused to express modern sentiments. KolofFs remark: We need only pronounce the word Rembrandt- it is just the same as, nay more than, saying Art, 11 begins to hold good, for how many long aesthetic treatises are given to the world under his flag which can only be detrimental to his real appreciation ?Rembrandts art is so impressive, so many-sided, that it has had its enthusiastic followers at all times, however opposed to him the art-movement or the aesthetic feeling might appear to be. Even during the deepest decay, when Dutch art was at its lowest ebb under the supremacy of the snuff-box painters—of a Ridder van der Werff, and Willem van Mieris—Rembrandt had zealous friends among his countrymen. When the English began to collect, Rembrandts pictures and etchings were primarily sought for, and in Paris, even at the time of a Boucher and a Greuze, his pictures were amongst those that fetched the highest prices. At that time the Empress Catharine, the Elector of Hesse, and Augustus the Strong made their collections of Rembrandts paintings. Sir Joshua Reynolds was the artists warmest admirer, and possessed a number of excellent pictures from his hand. In Germany, at the same time, a group of artists, the best known of whom were the painter Dietrich and the engraver Schmidt, adopted his art-conception. Even during the Empire, at... Great Masters of Dutch and Flemish Painting by Wilhelm von Bode
