Rembrandt's interest in the landscape is a well-hidden facet of his wide-ranging artistic vision. For centuries he has been seen as a painter of people-not landscapes. Whereas many of us arc familiar with works like The Night Watch or Bathsheba, there are very few who could name a specific landscape by him. This somewhat misleading picture undoubtedly stems from the relatively small number of landscapes in his oeuvre. Of the many hundreds of drawings Rembrandt made, no more than two hundred or so have a landscape theme as their subject, while only thirty of about three hundred etchings arc landscapes. As far as his landscape paintings arc concerned, there arc just eight. This limited output does not alter the fact that here, as in his other work, Rembrandt never worked to an established formula or routine. In every work he re-explored the dramatic potential of the genre with energy and passion. His landscapes confirm his status as a great artist.
This lavishly illustrated book focuses for the first time on the diverse facets of Rembrandt's landscape art. Enlightening essays on the drawn and etched landscapes are accompanied by individual entries for each of the painted works.