NARRATOR:
This magnificent print by Rembrandt looks more like a drawing than an etching. It appears casual, as if quickly jotted down, capturing the landscape in a few expressive lines. According to the dealer Gersaint, the artist made it while visiting the country estate of his friend and patron Jan Six. The two had just sat down to dinner:
GERSAINT (ACTOR):
“As they were sitting down…, they perceived that Mustard was wanting: [Six] immediately ordered the servant to… buy some. Rembrandt, who knew of the slothfulness of Dutch Servants,… offered [Six] a Wager that he would etch a Plate before his man returned. Six accepted… and Rembrandt, who always had plates at hand already varnished, immediately took up one and scratched upon it the landscape which appeared from the window of the parlor. The plate was indeed finished before the fellow appeared.”
NARRATOR:
The story may or may not be true—but it beautifully illustrates the prodigious speed at which Rembrandt worked. The idea that he carried etching plates with him at all times is equally remarkable. Here, he adopts a vantage point just above the horizon, compressing the landscape into a thin panoramic vista. The tall tree and sailboat are rendered in swift, sure outlines. They lend the image a fresh and spontaneous expression unequaled by other artists in this medium.
Details
- Artist Name: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
- Title: Six's Bridge
- Date: 1645
- Medium: Etching
- Edition: State II
- Dimensions: plate: 5-1/8 x 8-3/4 in. (13.0 x 22.2 cm); sheet: 5-1/4 x 9 in. (13.3 x 22.9 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1977.32.065.G
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 1452 p. 408
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