Rembrandt’s Mastery Displayed in Santa Barbara

“Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt’s Etchings” will be on display in Reynolds Gallery at Westmont Thursday, Sept. 3, through Saturday, Oct. 31. Featuring 35 of Rembrandt’s etchings from the John Villarino Collection, the exhibition opens with a reception 4-6 p.m. Sept. 3 in the gallery, located at 955 La Paz Road, Santa Barbara, which is free and open to the public.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) created this series of etchings between 1629 and 1654. A common subject for the Dutch master throughout his career, beggars often informed his images of saints and other subjects, including himself. One well-known etching in the series is his self-portrait, “Beggar Seated on a Bank” from 1630.

Work by South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa, also on display, complements the theme of Rembrandt’s etchings. Mthethwa’s Contemporary Gladiators series depicts the lives of the urban poor in his homeland, providing a contemporary perspective on poverty.

This exhibition is the first that Director Judy L. Larson has organized for the gallery. Most recently the director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., she joined the Westmont faculty in June 2008 and holds the R. Anthony Askew Chair in Art.

Reynolds Gallery is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. For information call (805) 565-6162. On Saturday, September 26, the gallery will participate in Smithsonian magazine’s Annual Museum Day, which invites Smithsonian subscribers to museums across the country.

A nationally-ranked liberal arts college, Westmont provides a rigorous academic program set in a Christ-centered community. Founded in 1937, the school enrolls 1,200 students on a wooded, ocean-view campus in Santa Barbara. For more information, visit www.westmont.edu.