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SOME COMMENTS ABOUT COLLECTING REMBRANDT / OLD MASTER PRINTS.

Why does Masterworks Fine Art feel that collecting lifetime impressions are important?
Too many dealers and auction houses tell you only a state designation, like that is a badge of authenticity, but the critical information is whether the print was made during the artist's lifetime. A later state may have NONE of artist's hand in it. None of the subtleties, none of the quality, that a lifetime impression would possess. I know I am out of sync with many dealers and auction houses on this, but I will explain below why I feel these things are important.

Why is Masterworks concerned about lifetime impressions.
Lifetime impressions / Lifetime printing (also known as contemporary printings or impressions), are prints that were made during the artists lifetime. This is in contrast to prints made after the artist died - i.e. restrikes….

Why is this important?
An etching is made by scratching a sharp object into a copper surface. When the line is scratched in, it leaves raised ridges of copper that were displaced by that scraping. This is called Burr. If it is present, it is a great thing, because it means that the print was made from an early impression of that state of the plate. An etching plate lasts maybe 100-150 impressions before it needs to be reworked or reetched. If it is not, the impression from that plate becomes grey because the lines do not hold ink as the plate has worn. As a plate gets reetched over time, there is less and less of the artist's hand present. In the case of Rembrandt for example, by the time of Jean, who acquired Rembrandts plates in the early 19th century , there is, in general, little of Rembrandt's hand left in the etching…. So I personally feel that these works are not very collectible.

What is a state?
A state is created in an etching when an artist or person modifies the plate. In the case or Rembrandt, it might be him, or Basan or Jean or any of a number of other people who worked with the plates - including those that survived Rembrandt's death…

Aren't all impressions after the 1st state impressions late impressions?
That idea is dead wrong, especially when making global assessments of Rembrandt. Many Rembrandt's etchings are found in many states - up to 10 or more -- yet some only found in one state… Rembrandt may have worked and reworked plates over time and each time he did that it would create a new state. Conversely other people also reworked Rembrandts' plates and that too would result in a new state of that print. The expertise used to distinquish these various states has been the subject of many books and many arguments.

Don't different experts catalogue Rembrandts etching and state designations differently?
Yes, these designations / assessments vary from cataloger to cataloguer of Rembrandts etchings. Some people go by Nowell-Usticke's system, some Hind, some Bartsch, some Biörklund. Sometimes these guys agree, sometimes not. Personally I start with Nowell-Usticke's, as a basis, but then I compare the other authors, especially Biörklund for better detailed information….
If I want to learn more about Rembrandts' etching you should look at:

1) Nowell-Usticke, Rembrandt's Etchings, 1967 or the 1988 reprint.
2) Biörklund, George, Rembrandt's Etchings, True and False, 1968
3) White, Christopher and Boon, Karel, Rembrandt's Etchings:
4) Hind, Arthur, A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings, 1967

What should I collect?
It is my opinion, that the only Rembrandt prints that are collectible are those that were done during (or at least close to) Rembrandts lifetime, hopefully touched by his hand. Almost all of the Rembrandts we sell are lifetime impressions, although I sell some later editions -- in general they will be from a 17th century or very early 18th century editions. They will be much lower in price, as I feel they should be. And I will say that the work is a later impression.

Heard about Rembrandt editions being pulled every hundred years?
More than 85 plates survived Rembrandts death (some of the these have been deemed copies or student work). These are the plates from which later editons have been made. The concept of producing editions every 100 years is silly. If you have heard this sort of thing, or stories of editions made recently (i.e. in the last 100 years), personally I feel that these works are not collectible. These late impressions bear little, if any, of Rembrandt's hand, because these plates have reworked to allow new editions to be made.

NOTE: The study of old master prints is very complex, and connoisseurs can spend a lifetime becoming an expert on just one artist. I am only one person who tries to be knowledgeable in many areas. I am bound to make mistakes, will revise this section as this author's opinions / knowledge develops.