Twenty-one etchings by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) are currently on display in Te Papa’s permanent art exhibition Toi Te Papa. This is the first time the etchings have been displayed at Te Papa.
These works are drawn from a group of fifty-six prints from the Bishop Monrad collection recently returned to Te Papa from the Alexander Turnbull Library where they have been held since 1923.
The works, featuring religious subjects, scenes of daily Amsterdam life and portraits, are displayed in the European print section of Toi Te Papa on Level 5 of Te Papa. This section is changed over every six months for conservation reasons providing an excellent opportunity to show the range of European prints in Te Papa’s collection.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) is widely recognised as the greatest etcher in the history of the medium, and his etchings have always been famous and sought after by collectors. He produced about three hundred etchings, often with the addition of drypoint and engraving. His prints were conceived and executed as independent works of art, not as reproductions of his paintings.
Bishop Ditlev Gothard Monrad (1811-1887) was prime minister and a high ranking churchman in Denmark but left his country due to his sense of responsibility for the defeat of Denmark and loss of Danish territory in the Danish-Prussian war of1864.
In 1866 Monrad, together with his family and five young Danish men who wished to emigrate, came to New Zealand and purchased land at Karere in the Manawatu. The family brought with them a large library of books and works of art – including etchings and engravings by Rembrandt, Durer and Van Dyck.
Bishop Monrad and his wife returned to Denmark after three years. Before returning, Monrad generously donated his collection of six hundred European prints to the New Zealand government which became the founding collection of the National Art Gallery (that amalgamated with the Dominion Museum to become Te Papa).
This selection of Rembrandt etchings will be on display in Toi Te Papa on Level 5 until April 2008.