Ernst van de Wetering

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Ernst van de Wetering (born March 9, 1938 in Hengelo ) is a Dutch art historian and university professor. He has been a member of the Rembrandt Research Project since 1968, initially as an assistant, since 1970 as a member and since 1993 as its head, and is considered one of the outstanding Rembrandt researchers at the turn of the 20th to the 21st century.

Life

Ernst van de Wetering first studied art at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague , one of his lecturers was Co Westerik . From 1961 to 1964 he worked part-time as a drawing teacher. In 1963 he began studying art history at the Universiteit van Amsterdam , which he completed in 1973 with a doctorate.

From 1964 to 1968 van de Wetering worked as a scientific draftsman of microscopic specimens at the Zoölogisch Museum Amsterdam . From 1969 to 1987 he worked as an art historian at the Centraal Laboratorium voor Voorwerpen van Kunst en Wetenschap in Amsterdam, today's Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed . From 1987 until his retirement on April 1, 1999, he was Professor of Art History at the Universiteit van Amsterdam.

In 1968 he first became an assistant in the Rembrandt Research Project headed by Josua Bruyn . In 1970 he became a member of the project. He did not want to follow the strict distinction between “real”, “dubious” and “false” paintings that he strived for during the first few years, but could not assert himself. In 1993 he took over the chairmanship of the RRP, succeeding Josua Bruyn. Van de Wetering is responsible for the fact that after the write-offs from the first years of the Rembrandt Research Project, a large number of works were re-examined and that in the fourth to sixth volumes of the Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings , Rembrandt was again able to be attributed.

Van de Wetering made numerous discoveries relating to Rembrandt's work and he is considered one of the most outstanding Rembrandt researchers of the 20th and 21st centuries. His other research and publications deal with historical painting techniques and the theoretical and ethical foundations of the preservation and restoration of works of art.

Van de Weterings repeatedly contradicts the view that light was an important factor in Dutch painting in the 17th century. There were as many kinds of light in his eyes as there were ways of painting. The effect did not result from the light, but from the methods and style of the painters. He wrote several scientific publications in which he refuted the claim that Claude Monet painted exclusively in natural light.

Since studying at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, van de Wetering has worked as a portrait and landscape painter. This has been cited as one reason why, despite his strong support for the study of paintings using scientific methods, he is considered a connoisseur in the footsteps of art historians of earlier generations.

Awards

Ernst van de Wetering was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford for 2002. In 2003 van de Wetering was knighted by the Dutch Queen for his services to the preservation and restoration of the cultural heritage of the Netherlands.

Publications (selection)

  • Hans von Marées (1837-1887). Dissertation. Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1973.
  • with CM Groen and JA Mosk: Beknopt verslag van deresultaten van hetstechn onderzoek van Rembrandts Nachtwacht / Summary Report on the Results of the Technical Examination of Rembrandt's Night Watch. In: Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum. Volume 24, No. 1/2, 1976, pp. 69-98, JSTOR 40381759 .
  • De jonge Rembrandt aan het Werk. In: Oud Holland - Journal for Art of the Low Countries. Volume 91, No. 1-2, 1977, pp. 27-60, doi: 10.1163 / 187501777X00070 .
  • Studies in the workshop practice of the early Rembrandt. Dissertation. Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1986.
  • with Anna van Grevenstein and Karin Groen: Esther voor Haman, toegeschreven aan Rembrandt. In: Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum. Volume 39, 1991, pp. 56-83.
  • Negenduizend Vierhonderdwintig Rembrandt. The criteria from the Rembrandt Research Project . In: NRC Handelsblad . December 13, 1991.
  • Rembrandt. The painter at work . Amsterdam University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-90-8964-033-8 .
  • Rembrandt. The Painter Thinking . Amsterdam University Press, 2016, ISBN 978-90-8964-561-6 .

A Corpus of Rembrandt paintings

Ernst van de Wetering was the author of all volumes of the Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, which was originally laid out in five volumes . From the fourth volume onwards, he is the sole main author, but essentially plays the role of editor.

  • Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (Ed.): A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. I. 1625-1631. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague / Boston / London 1982, ISBN 94-009-7519-8 .
    • with Josua Bruyn: The stylistic development. Pp. 3-9.
    • Painting materials and painting methods. Pp. 11-33.
  • this: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. II. 1631-1634. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht / Boston / Lancaster 1986, ISBN 90-247-3340-5 .
    • with Josua Bruyn: Stylistic features of the 1630s: the portraits. Pp. 3-13.
    • The canvas support pp. 15-43.
    • Problems of apprenticeship and studio collaboration. Pp. 45-90.
  • this: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. III. 1635-1642. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht / Boston / London 1989, ISBN 94-010-6852-6 .
    • with Josua Bruyn: Stylistic features of the 1630s: the history paintings. Pp. 3-11.
  • this: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. IV. The self-portraits. Springer, Dordrecht 2005, ISBN 1-4020-3280-3 .
    • Preface. Pp. IX-XXII
    • Rembrandt's self-portraits: problems of authenticity and function. Pp. 89-317.
  • this: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. V. The Small-Scale History Paintings. Springer, Dordrecht 2011, ISBN 978-1-4020-4607-0 .
    • An illustrated chronological survey of Rembrandt's small-scale 'histories': paintings, etchings and a selection of drawings. With remarks on art-theoretical aspects, function and questions of authenticity. Pp. 141-258.
    • Rembrandt's prototypes and pupils' production of variants. Pp. 259-282.
    • On quality: comparitive remarks on the functioning of Rembrandt's pictorial mind. Pp. 283-310.
    • More than one hand in paintings by Rembrandt. Pp. 311-321.
  • this: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. VI. Rembrandt's Paintings Revisited. A Complete Survey. Springer Science + Business Media, Dordrecht 2015, ISBN 978-94-017-9173-1 .
    • What is a Rembrandt? A personal account. Pp. 1-53.
    • What is a non-Rembrandt? Pp. 53-60.

Festschrift

  • Marieke van den Doel, Natasja van Eck, Gerbrand Korevaar, Anna Tummers, Thijs Weststeijn (eds.): The Learned Eye. Regarding Art, Theory, and the Artist's Reputation. Essays for Ernst van de Wetering . Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-713-5 (with bibliography up to 2005).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ernst van de Wetering (1938) is kunsthistoricus en Rembrandtkenner. VPRO website , accessed October 29, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c Thijs Weststeijn: Biography of Ernst van de Wetering. In: Marieke van den Doel et al. (Ed.): The Learned Eye. 2005, p. 13.
  3. ↑ I'll forget about prices again. Interview. In: Der Spiegel . 47/1997, pp. 258-259.
  4. ↑ Katarzyna Krzyżagórska-Pisarek: Corpus Rubenianum versus Rembrandt Research Project. Two approaches to a catalog raisonné. In: Rocznik Historii Sztuki. Volume 41, 2016, pp. 23-50, doi: 10.11588 / diglit.34225.5 .
  5. ^ Oxford Slade Professors, 1870 – present. (PDF) (No longer available online.) University of Oxford, 2012, archived from the original on February 13, 2015 ; accessed on January 27, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Wetering, Ernst van de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch art historian
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Hengelo