In Preparation For “Rembrandt In America”

Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669)
The Shipbuilder Jan Rijcksen And His Wife Griet Jans
1633
The Royal Collection, London

Oil On Canvas
45 Inches By 66 3/8 Inches

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This painting is one of my favorite Rembrandt paintings.

My brother and I saw this painting in 2005, when we toured Buckingham Palace during that year’s summer opening. The painting made a great impression on both of us.

When we returned for the summer opening in 2007, with my parents and Joshua in tow, the painting was no longer on display. Queen Elizabeth’s painting collection is so vast that the paintings in the Buckingham Palace Picture Gallery are changed from year-to-year; each summer opening features a new and different array of Old Master paintings. We were disappointed in 2007 that my mother was unable to see this great painting, as we had described it to her in great detail two years earlier, with the result that my mother had been most eager to see this masterwork herself.

Tomorrow we shall view the exhibition, “Rembrandt In America”, at the Minneapolis Institute Of Arts. Of course, “The Shipbuilder Jan Rijcksen And His Wife Griet Jans” is not part of the exhibition, as the exhibition displays only Rembrandt paintings from American public and private collections. “Rembrandt In America” is the largest Rembrandt exhibition ever organized in North America.

It is one of two large, high-profile exhibitions at the Minneapolis Institute Of Arts in 2012. The other: the Chinese terra-cotta warriors, scheduled to make a visit in the fall and winter.