REMBRANDT VAN RIJN, Dutch, 1606–1669
The Death of the Virgin, 1639
Etching and drypoint, Second state (of Usticke’s five)
16 x 12 3/8 in. (40.6 x 31.4 cm)
Purchase, R.H. Norton Trust, 96.23
The Norton Museum of Art opened its ‘Small Worlds: Five Centuries of European Prints and Drawings from the Collection’ exhibition. Titled after Wassily Kandinsky’s 1922 print series Small Worlds, this exhibition comprises about 40 European drawings and prints made over the course of five centuries by artists ranging from Dürer to Picasso, using a wide variety of media and techniques. Roughly chronological in its arrangement, the exhibition begins with soft metal cuts for illustrated bibles dating from the early 15th century, moves to works by Dürer, Rembrandt, Callot, Piranesi, Manet, and Klinger, among others, and ends in the 20th century with works by Chagall, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Klee. While the exhibition features many well-known artists, it also highlights talented, but lesser-known artists and seldom seen works from the collection. These include works about which recent research has yielded important and exciting new insights. Small Worlds underlines the frequent role of prints and drawings as microcosms of experience intended to be seen close up.
The Dutch/Flemish artists featured are Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens and Adriaen van Ostade.