Rembrandt Millennium Impressions – Article 1

The Millennium Impressions –
Recent Posthumous Etchings Made from Eight Rembrandt Copper Plates

An introduction to the Millennium Impressions, the provenance of the plates they were printed from, and the history of the plates and etchings up to August 2003

(This is the first of three articles intended to inform anyone who owns a Millennium Impressions Rembrandt etching, is considering buying one, or is just plain interested.)

by David Phillips, for Fine Art Registry®

Introduction

This is the first in a series of at least three articles about the Rembrandt etchings printed from eight original Rembrandt copper plates. The Millennium Impressions, which were first sold in 1999, were conceived as a means of providing the best etchings that could be printed from eight of Rembrandt's surviving copper plates at an affordable price. The Millennium Impressions were purchased primarily by the many collectors who wanted to own Rembrandt etchings but who could not afford the high price of those printed during the artist's lifetime (lifetime impressions), or even the earlier posthumous etchings printed during the three centuries since Rembrandt's death.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669) is one of history's greatest and most popular artists. And while many people know him mainly for his paintings and his characteristic, dramatic use of light and shade, he was first and foremost a prolific etcher and a pioneer of etching techniques. He has been referred to as the greatest etcher of all time, and when you start examining the 300 or so etchings he made, you can see why.

In order to understand what it is that you own or plan to purchase when you buy a Rembrandt etching you should understand some terminology or you may not be able to read the certificates of authenticity which come with the etching you buy, and you certainly won't have a full appreciation of what you are collecting or seeing. Even less will you be able to gain an accurate idea of its monetary value or its worth as a collectible or investment.

Definitions

Etching

Etching (in relation to art) is the process of using acid to cut into unprotected parts of a metal surface or plate to create a drawing or design. The plate can then be inked and the drawing transferred to paper or other material using a printing press. Rembrandt used thin copper plates for his etchings. This plate was covered with a ground (a resinous substance which he made softer by mixing with wax, which the acid would not affect). The artist then uses a pointed tool to cut lines in the ground where he wants there to be lines in the final print. The plate is then exposed to a strong acid which bites into the copper where the ground has been scraped or cut away. The length of time the acid is allowed to "bite" affects the depth and thickness of the line in the final print. The plate can also be directly scratched with a needle or other tool (this process is called dry-point, a different process which does not use a ground or acid).

The word etching refers to the process as described and also to the finished print produced by this process.

Etching and engraving tools:

(a) etching needle


(b) scraper


(c) & (d) burnishers,



(e) graver or burin

Engraving

Engraving is another way of producing a print from a metal plate in which lines have been cut. Unlike etching, the artist cuts directly into the metal, usually copper, with a pointed cutting tool called a burin or graver. The plate is then inked and printed in a press. The finished print is also known as an engraving.

Dry-point

A technique of cutting directly into a metal plate with a hard-pointed needle to create an image. The plate can then be inked and printed in a printing press. The needle used in dry-point creates a burr along the lines cut into the metal which is recognizable in the finished print and is different from the hard-edged lines produced by etching or engraving. As the plate is used over and over this burr tends to smooth out and the later prints made with the same plate look different from the early ones.

Intaglio (in-TAL-yo)

In relation to printing methods, intaglio refers to the various techniques, including etching, dry-point and engraving, where the final print is produced by cutting lines or shapes into the plate which is then inked and pressed onto paper or another substance to create the final image. Intaglio comes from the Italian intagliare, to engrave, from in-, in, plus tagliare, to cut.

The printing process is highly skilled and requires knowledge and craftsmanship.

Although generally referred to as "etchings", Rembrandt's prints often combined the various intaglio processes - etching, dry-point, engraving - in one plate. Rembrandt mastered the use of the engraver's burin or graver as well as the needle for etching and dry-point.

The engraver's burin or graver is much less like a pencil or pen than the needles used in etching or dry-point, so the image made by etching or dry-point can therefore be closer in appearance to a freehand drawing than an engraving, where the lines are more precise and regimented.

Plate

The flat metal surface in which the etching is made. Rembrandt used thin metal plates made from cold hammered copper for his etchings.

The copper plate and the corresponding Millennium Impression etching, The Raising of Lazarus, (the larger plate).

Impression

The finished print made from the inked copper etching plate.

The press used to print the Millennium Impressions etchings.

State

It is usual for an etcher to produce the etching to a point where he or she is ready to see what a print will look like, so he will stop drawing, clean off the ground and make a trial print or proof. This print may show that more work is needed, or the artist may decide to change the design of the entire plate. The additional work would be done and a new proof pulled. Each time the plate is altered (reworked) you have a different state of the plate. The artist might also print and sell a number of etchings and then decide to alter the plate and print more. The second run of prints would be a different state of the plate. Many of Rembrandt's plates have been reworked after his death and this would produce a new state of the plate each time it is reworked. You will find etchings referred to by their "state" - first state, second state, ninth state, etc.

Rembrandt experts disagree among themselves about the different "states" of Rembrandt's plates. You will see this reflected in the Certificates of Authenticity or the descriptions of etchings in catalogs and sales literature, where the same etching is quoted as being "State II" by one expert and "State IV" according to another. We don't know how many states each plate went through and each expert has his or her own opinions which agree with or differ from those of others.

Lifetime Impression

This refers to an impression that was made during the artist's lifetime. Usually, but not necessarily, this would be by the artist himself. It might be under his supervision by a printmaker. The idea is that a lifetime impression was made by the artist or under his direct supervision and it must of necessity have been made during the artist's lifetime. These are contrasted with posthumous impressions made by another printer after the artist's death and which the artist never saw, authorized or approved. This has also been a common practice and many etchings have been made from Rembrandt's copper plates, reworked or not, over the centuries since his death.

Posthumous impression

This refers to a print made from the artist's original plate but after the artist's death by a different printmaker. Posthumous etchings are not at all unique to Rembrandt. In the case of many well-known artists including Dürer, Whistler, Renoir, Goya, Picasso and Miró, to mention just a few, posthumous editions have been issued.

In the case of Rembrandt, many of his copper plates survived him. He did not destroy them after printing a certain number. These have passed through a number of hands down the centuries and many of them (about 82 of the 300 or so which he made) still exist today.

These plates have been used by later printers and publishers, as we will see, to make prints from at different times in their history.

Copper plates are only useful to print a certain number of prints. The process of printing exerts pressure and wear on the plates. Where the plates have any dry-point work, the burr created which gives a specific, rich texture to the print, is gradually worn away. This is quite visible in the print.

As the plates get worn away, the lines become less distinct and lose their definition. A posthumous printer may need to rework the plate in order to get a good impression. However, the reworking of the plate by a different hand removes the resulting print to a small or large degree from what was created by the artist. The reworking can be faithful to the original, merely deepening the existing lines, or it can depart quite radically from the original plate as it was last seen by the artist who created it.

The plates can also be rebitten. Rebiting involves putting a new ground on the plate and then reapplying the acid bath. This will deepen and broaden the existing lines without creating new lines, thus making it possible to make a darker impression.

Restrike

When applied to etchings, restrike is a somewhat ambiguous term, at least in its usage.

Technically, when talking about etchings, a restrike is an additional printing from an etching plate after the first printing is complete. Usually it is used to refer to a posthumous reprinting from an etched plate, whether or not that plate was reworked, but the word in itself does not specify that it is posthumous. So, for example, a French printer, Basan, owned some of the Rembrandt copper plates and published a recueil (French word for "collection") of new prints in the form of a book between 1789 and 1797. These would be termed "restrikes". To avoid confusion, the term should either not be used at all, or should be defined in context. Here, for example, is a definition found on the internet:

Here is another one:

The ambiguity comes from the fact that the term does not specify that the additional printing is posthumous, but it is often used that way so you don’t really know what is meant. It's safer to specify what you mean by calling it a posthumous impression, a lifetime impression and also naming the state of the plate or including the name of the posthumous printer (e.g. "Basan impression").

Print disclosure law, at least in California, uses the term "posthumous impression" rather than "restrike". But you will encounter the term "restrike" and it's important to know that its meaning can vary depending on who is using it.

Rework

Reworking a plate is just what it sounds like. After the first state of the plate, the artist may rework it by burnishing parts of the plate, doing new drawing over the old, or any other actions which alter the plate from its original state. When this reworking is done by the artist, the new state created is simply another state by the same artist. When the reworking is done by another hand, perhaps after the artist's death, in order to produce a stronger impression or for any other reason, such reworking removes the plate and the resulting etchings from the artist's original creation in varying degrees. In some cases, the plate is so reworked that little of the artist's original work remains. The amount of rework varies with the plate and each plate should be considered individually.

Rebite/Rebitten

Already defined above, the process of recoating the plate with a new ground, and using a new acid application to bite deeper into the copper where the lines have become thin or faint. It deepens and broadens the etched lines. "Rebitten" is simply the past participle of "rebite", also used as an adjective.

Steel facing

An electrolytic process for applying an extremely thin layer of steel to an etched copper plate to help protect it during the printing process. (In some cases, what is applied is actually a fine layer of iron or zinc, not steel per se even though the term for it is steel facing.)

Dr. Erik Hinterding, Dutch Rembrandt scholar and author of several works on Rembrandt, his etchings, and related subjects, provided the following information on steel facing:

Law of Fine Art Multiples

In the USA there is no federal law specifically applying to the sale of fine art multiples (artwork produced in quantity from a master) so the law on the advertising and sale of etchings, prints, lithographs, giclées and other graphic works (usually those over a stipulated value such as $100) varies from state to state, the toughest being in California and New York, with many states adopting part or all of these statutes or their own versions of them.

Typically these laws require certain disclosures on the part of a dealer or anyone selling fine art multiples.

More of this later.

Certificate of Authenticity

A certificate provided with a work of art intended to prove that it is authentic. Typically these certificates detail the provenance (history back to its creation) of a piece of art and also, in the case of multiples, contain the disclosures required by law.

The Millennium Impressions

The Millennium Impressions are a modern, posthumous edition of eight of Rembrandt's original etchings. Rembrandt died in 1669. These impressions were printed more than three centuries after his death.

The following images of the Millennium Impressions are not shown in actual size. Nor do they do justice to the etchings which should be seen "in the flesh" for proper appreciation of their quality and detail.

Artist's Mother With Her Hand on her Chest

The Golf Player

Bust of A Man Wearing a High Cap

Christ and the Woman of Samaria Among Ruins

The Card Player

The Raising of Lazarus (the larger plate)

Self Portrait Drawing at a Window

Landscape With a Cow

During his lifetime Rembrandt created some 300 copper etchings, 82 of which survive, and the eight used to produce the Millennium Impressions are among them. The provenance of the plates has been established and these eight have twice been examined by Erik Hinterding, Dutch expert on Rembrandt and author of a number of books on the subject, once in 1993 and again in 2003. The authenticity of the plates is not in question.

Some of the plates that these etchings are printed from have been altered over the years but they were not reworked when the Millennium Impressions were originally printed and had not been altered when Dr. Hinterding saw them in 2003.

The Millennium Impressions have been made by master printers and are of high quality. Lifetime impressions of these etchings (those made while Rembrandt was still alive) are rare and expensive. If a collector wants to get a more affordable Rembrandt etching, printed from a copper plate which was originally made by Rembrandt, then the "Millennium Impressions" are a much less expensive choice. We will go into their worth and value in the third article of this series.

History of the Plates

The following remarks about the history or provenance of the eight plates from which the Millennium Impressions were printed were provided by a founding member of Intaglio Etchings, Ltd., the company formed in 1998 to publish and market the etchings when the plates were owned by a Beverly Hills doctor. Intaglio Etchings Ltd. was responsible for the concept and the initial publication and sales of the Millennium Impressions until August 2003 when the copper plates were sold. Prior to the sale of the copper plates in August 2003, Intaglio Etchings Ltd. ceased its business operations and then finally dissolved in December of 2003. This founding member invested a tremendous amount of time in researching the provenance of Rembrandt's copper plates, his etching techniques, the etchings themselves and their evolution, Rembrandt's life and the significance of each etching in the context of his life, the market for Rembrandt etchings and the law applicable to the sale of fine art multiples.

Dr. Erik Hinterding is a renowned Rembrandt scholar who has written a number of books and essays on the subject of Rembrandt and his etchings, including Rembrandt the Printmaker (co-authored with Ger Luijten and Martin Royalton-Kisch). In The history of Rembrandt's copperplates; with a catalogue of those that survive, Dr. Hinterding describes each of these eight plates, among many others he examined.

The following information was provided by Dr. Erik Hinterding for this article.

Dr. Hinterding's remarks (for these eight plates alone) are quoted here in full from his book, not in the original sequence but in the sequence that the etchings are listed above. He also provides a date for each original Rembrandt plate.

History of the Millennium Impressions

The following are directly quoted answers from the same founding member of Intaglio Etchings, Ltd. to questions about the history and origins of the Millennium Impressions.

Authenticity and Quality of the Etchings; Limited Edition

When the Millennium Impressions project was conceived, and publication of the etchings from the eight Rembrandt plates began, the edition was limited to a maximum of 2,500 impressions from each plate, plus perhaps some proofs which would in no case exceed 10%. While the idea of limited editions of etchings is a fairly modern concept, it does affect the value of the etchings as price and worth of just about anything is mainly governed by scarcity. For example, if you knew that only ten of each of these impressions would ever exist, you would also be willing to pay a higher price for them than if 10,000 of each were being produced.

The Millennium Impressions (distinguished from the later Millennium edition published by Park West after they bought the plates in August 2003) were each accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity when they were sold. This certificate made the necessary disclosures required by California law and, importantly, gave the unique number of that specific etching and contained the verification by the signature of Marjorie Van Dyke as the printer.

Note that these numbered certificates of authenticity and disclosures were discontinued when ownership of the plates changed hands to Park West Gallery in August 2003 and Intaglio Etchings, Ltd. ceased its business operations and subsequently dissolved in December 2003.

An example of the certificates of authenticity which were issued by Intaglio Etchings is shown here, along with the full text.

Following is the text of the Intaglio Etchings, Ltd. Certificate of Authenticity pictured above.

[The "B 125" is a generally accepted method of numbering Rembrandt's etchings based on a catalogue compiled by Bartsch in 1797.]

The website set up by Intaglio Etchings, Ltd. included the following legal statement:

What happened to Intaglio Etchings, Ltd?

We asked the same founding member of Intaglio Etchings what had happened to the company when the plates were sold to Park West Gallery in 2003.

Further articles

The next article in this series will continue the history from when the plates and unsold etchings were sold in August 2003 by Dr. Berger to Park West Gallery - at least as much as is known, since extraordinary measures have been taken to shroud the whole transfer of ownership and subsequent fate of the plates in secrecy and mystery.

A third article will go into the value of the Millennium Impressions published and sold by Intaglio Etchings, Ltd. and the later Millennium edition etchings published and sold by Park West on cruise ships, at land auctions and through their website, and will compare their prices and market value with lifetime impressions and the various posthumous impressions published during the centuries intervening since Rembrandt's death. Article #3 will also contain a bibliography with suggested further reading.

Read Part 2: Park West Gallery Buys Eight Rembrandt Copper Plates and Conceals their Ownership. Why the Secrecy?

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