Exhibition Highlights Rembrandt, Jews
Westmont features 21 Rembrandt etchings in an exhibition, “Rembrandt and the Jews: The Berger Print Collection,” Feb. 12-March 28 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, 955 La Paz Rd., Santa Barbara. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (805) 565-6162. The show also includes a drawing by Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt’s teacher, and an etched “Self-Portrait with Plumed Cap and Lowered Sabre” from 1634. The public is invited to a free, public reception on Feb. 12 from 4-6 p.m. with valet parking and light refreshments.
The museum hosts a symposium, “Rembrandt and the Jews,” on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Winter Hall’s Darling Foundation Lecture Hall (Room 210). The event includes talks by Shelley Perlove, professor emeritus of art history at the University of Michigan; Ann Jensen Adams, history of art and architecture professor at UC Santa Barbara; and Nadine Orenstein, curator of prints and drawings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets to the symposium, which cost $35 per person, can be purchased by calling (805) 565-6162. Lunch will be served in the Winter Hall atrium.
The exhibition demonstrates the artist’s innovative approach to depicting biblical imagery and his use of the printmaking medium. “It highlights Rembrandt, who boldly broke with long-established ways of depicting Old Testament stories, seeking veracity in all his biblical subjects,” says Judy L. Larson, R. Anthony Askew professor of art history and director of the museum. “The artist counted Jewish intellectuals among his friends and advisers and made portraits of these leaders.
“An overarching theme of openness and charity underscores this exhibition and serves as a message that is as relevant today as ever.”
Fran and Howard Berger of Los Angeles donated their collection to Westmont, which highlights Rembrandt’s relationship with Amsterdam’s citizens of the Jewish faith.
The exhibition highlights Rembrandt’s etchings of Jewish and Old Testament biblical subjects. The artist lived and worked in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. His father belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, and his mother was Roman Catholic. Rembrandt never formally joined any church, but he was an astute student of the Bible. At times, he turned to Amsterdam’s Jews for theological insights into new ways of depicting biblical imagery. He also hired models from the Jewish community and received commissions from Jewish patrons.
The museum will also display “The Old Testament in Dutch and Flemish 16th and 17th Century Prints: Selections from the Dewayne and Faith Perry Collection” and “William Castellana: South Williamsburg Street Portraits,” featuring photographs of Hasidic Jews living the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.
Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree and Marilyn Gevirtz served as co-chairs for an Honorary Committee for Rembrandt and the Jews, a group of art enthusiasts from both the Christian and Jewish faiths, who promoted both the Rembrandt collection and the remarkable story that it tells. Committee members included Antoinette G. Amorteguy, Drs. Benjamin J. Cohen and Jane S. De Hart, Drs. Sue and J. W. Colin, Diane Dodds, Christine and Robert Emmons, Dr. Jill Finsten, Marilyn Gilbert, Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer and Laurie Gross, Anna and David Grotenhuis, Walter and Darlene Hansen, Yoel and Eva Haller, George and Shari Isaac, Peter and Madeleine Jacobson, Cliff Lundberg, Leatrice Luria, Dewayne and Faith Perry, Sharol and Wayne Siemens, James Stretchberry, Michael and Anne Towbes, and MaryBeth and Jim Vogelzang.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and college holidays. For more information, please visit www.westmontmuseum.org or contact the museum at (805) 565-6162 or museum@westmont.edu.