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LEGEND has it Dutch artist Rembrandt was so tight, his students used to paint gold coins on the floors of the studio and laugh when their master tried to pick up the money.
Fast-forward almost four centuries and far from being a joke, just the fact that the coins were painted by students of Rembrandt would today mean they are worth serious megabucks.
Such is the demand for work by Rembrandt – who died bankrupt – that an etching by him discovered in a charity shop in Bedfordshire recently sold for more than £7,000, and a self-portrait worth £34 million was stolen from a Swedish museum. Worth a fortune on the black market, police have now recovered the painting.
Thankfully, for most of us a heaving bank balance or a criminal mastermind isn’t necessary to enjoy the work of the Netherlands’ most famous artist. Clients just need a knowledgeable agent able to tap into the wealth of activity planned for next year by the Dutch museum and tourism sector to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth. It’s hoped the events will attract a total of 1.5 million visitors.
Next month will see the launch of a public relations campaign in the UK to push Rembrandt 400 – the series of exhibitions, walks and even a musical specially put on to mark the anniversary.
Amsterdam Travel Service product development manager Chris Owen said the company is expecting the occasion will generate a large influx of UK visitors, and is putting on tactical campaigns themed on Rembrandt 400 throughout next year. Operators such as Kirker Holidays and Gold Medal Travel are also putting together commissionable packages on the Rembrandt 400 theme (see below).
Understandably selling a product based on a famous artist can be an intimidating prospect, but thankfully it isn’t necessary to swot up on fine art to do the job well.
The events planned for Rembrandt 400 – mainly the new exhibitions – will be strong selling points to art lovers looking to see works such as The Night Watch. Museums from all over the world are loaning Dutch museums their Rembrandt works for the occasion, and visitors will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see many of the artist’s works exhibited together.
Two of Amsterdam’s most famous museums – the Rijksmuseum and adjacent Van Gogh Museum – have collaborated for the first-ever exhibition of both Rembrandt and his Italian counterpart Il Caravaggio. This will be worth a special visit for clients interested in art.
For those less interested in baroque painting, Rembrandt 400 offers an insight into 17th century Dutch life and the incentive to see Holland’s different cities.
Rembrandt lived his adult life in Amsterdam and today one of his houses, now called the Rembrandt House Museum, has been carefully restored to replicate how it would have appeared four centuries ago. Visitors can go into his studio, equipped with paints and easels, or see how his etchings were produced.
Also in Amsterdam, special walking tours of the city will take in Rembrandt’s haunts.
If clients fancy something musical, Rembrandt De Musical, in the vein of Les Miserables, will cronicle the life of Rembrandt at Amsterdam’s famous Royal Theatre Carré. It will depict his battle for survival, personal grief, controversial love life, and his fall from grace when his style went out of fashion. The newly renovated Carré is worth a visit alone.
Also, why not suggest clients have dinner at the d’Vijf Vlieghen restaurant, where one of the dining rooms displays four original Rembrandt etchings?
Outside Amsterdam there are activities going on throughout Holland, but Leiden, where Rembrandt grew up, is a good choice. Nearer the coast, this university town has the architecture and canals of Amsterdam, but on a smaller and quieter scale.
The main focus of Rembrandt 400 here will be a series of exhibitions at Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal, themed around the myths and reality of his mother, Rembrandt as a narrator and his landscape paintings. There will also be a walking tour taking in the landmarks of his early life.
Using Rembrandt 400 as a selling tool can mean anything from booking an art tour with lectures, to suggesting clients try a particular restaurant.
And as such a penny-pincher, we’re sure Rembrandt would think the commission earned would be worth every penny.
