I was barely back from Europe when I had to turn around and make a business journey to the West Coast. Turns out, one of my European buds was here waiting for me.
As I was paging through one of those propaganda tourist magazines at my hotel in Santa Monica, I saw an ad from The Getty advertising an exhibit of Rembrandt’s late-life religious portraits. Couldn’t pass that up, so I diverted to the museum on my way up to Ventura for the second leg of my business trip.
I’ve passed The Getty on the 405 numerous times and always have been impressed by the way it sits perched up in the hills above L.A. I’d never gone up there, though. It’s an impressive facility. And the Rembrandt exhibit was equally impressive.
The exhibit is a collection of religious themed portraits that Rembrandt did late in life. I particularly liked “Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul,” in which Rembrandt looks directly at you from the painting, and “A Monk Reading, Possibly St. Francis,” where the document the monk is reading glistens in that way the only Rembrandt can dance between dark and light.
The exhibit had added weight for me, of course, after seeing Rembrandts in the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum in Europe only a week or so ago. If you’re in L.A. between now and Aug. 28, this is worth checking out. It’s also worth spending some time drifting through The Getty’s Permanent collection. Because of time restraints I focused on the paintings, but I was impressed.