Rembrandt as an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at Work, Second edition [Hardcover]

Mr. Christopher White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 1999

In this updated edition of his highly praised book, Christopher White provides the definitive account of Rembrandt's etchings and their significance within the larger body of the artist's work. With eloquence and deep insight, White analyzes the technical, stylistic, and iconographic features of selected etchings, traces their close relationship with the artist's drawings, and reveals how Rembrandt made the medium his own.

Rembrandt was one of the first artists to experiment with the media of etching and drypoint, submitting his plates to numerous reworkings, drawing on impressions, and varying the inking of his plates and his papers. In a detailed discussion of Rembrandt's methods, White shows that the changes and variations Rembrandt introduced often provide a unique opportunity -- not afforded by paintings and drawings -- to observe the artist at work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It is timely that Christopher White has chosen to revise his study of Rembrandt's etching 30 years after it was first published. This second edition of what quickly became an authoritative text incorporates critical reaction to its predecessor as well as the continuing scholarship of the Rembrandt Research Project. There have been 16 catalogues raisonnés of the artist's prints and innumerable exhibition publications, making his etchings the most catalogued works of art in the world, but few other books have considered "how" as well as "what" and set the works in a historical and personal context. White, a leading authority on 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art who edited Rembrandt by Himself, is the ideal man for the job. The line "Would you like to see my etchings?" has never sounded so appealing.

White divides his attention into six considerable chapters: technique, history, portraiture, genre, nudes, and landscape. The most valuable, and groundbreaking, is the first, in which his explanations of Rembrandt's working methods and techniques give the illusion of peering over the artist's shoulder, such is the vividness with which details of biting, drypoint, and choice of papers come alive in his accessible and learned prose. The patient care invested in not just assembling but attractively presenting the images mirrors the attentions of the etcher, who undertakes a painstaking process with a slow-burning excitement, always with the uncertainty of the end product--something for which Rembrandt's temperament seemed entirely suited. In his later life he abandoned his habit of careful pre-planning and allowed the means to influence the ends. This flexibility was entirely characteristic of Rembrandt as an artist across the board; never afraid to experiment, he had reasons for working that were as pragmatic as they were visionary, and prints were the most successful reproductive propagandists for their maker's art. White's book, as luxurious to handle as to study or peruse, is still the definitive standard by which evaluation of Rembrandt's etchings and their relationship with his drawings and paintings must be judged. It is definitively art history at its most rewarding and enthralling. --David Vincent, Amazon.co.uk

Review

This book will surely be hailed as a pioneering effort. It deserves to be widely read -- by scholars, the general public and, not least, by artists. There is no mumbo-jumbo about Mr White's treatment of his theme. It is written with a touch only found when the author has something of the artistic temperament in his nature.

Apollo

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 2 edition (August 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300079532
• ISBN-13: 978-0300079531
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,509,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, especially in terms of graphics reproductions, December 10, 2000

By 

"endoguy2" (Green village, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rembrandt as an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at Work, Second edition (Hardcover)

The strongest quality about this book is probably its graphical reproductions. A luxurious smorgasbourg of reproductions of Rembrandt's etchings provide a thorough, comprehensive display of Rembrandt's mysterious artistic wizardry. These reproductions are also of amazing quality: the printing is extremely sharp and crisp, imparting a 3-dimensional feel to the etchings that is absolutely critical for bringing them out. The quality of the graphical reproductions is really considerably superior to the high-quality reproductions given in the less expensive Dover edition of Rembrandt's etchings.

The text is also readable and interesting, although mainly I paid attention to the etchings and graphics .... Of particular interest (to me, at least) is White's explanation of the etching process, including a full-color photo of one of Rembrandt's surviving copper etchings of a reclining nude.

Another nice thing about this book in general is that it was not only written by one who is fascinated by and an expert in etching, but also one who had worked in museums and had special access to these etchings for photography purposes, which may account for their reproductive excellence. It's a big, glossy, deluxe coffee-table book that's worth the price.

1 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One of Rembrandts greatest book, April 26, 2000

By 

SETH - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rembrandt as an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at Work, Second edition (Hardcover)

If you are doing a research paper like I am on Rembrandt u will find this book very helpful....it tells u about his life and all of the trouble he goes through and the different paintings he painted it goes into a great detail on just about everything u would need to know about the great painter REMBRANDT!