Rembrandt in Southern California

“Rembrandt in Southern California” is a virtual exhibition of paintings by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), on view in Southern California museums.

This collaborative presentation offers a unique guide to exploring these significant holdings and provides information, suggested connections, and points of comparison for each work.

Southern California is home to the third-largest assemblage of Rembrandt paintings in the United States, with notable strength in works from the artist’s dynamic early career in Leiden and Amsterdam. Beginning with J. Paul Getty’s enthusiastic 1938 purchase of “Portrait of Marten Looten” (given to LACMA in 1953; no. 9 in the Virtual Exhibition), the paintings have been collected over 80 years and are today housed in five museums, four of which were forged from private collections: the Hammer Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles; the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena; and the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego.

The website Rembrandt in Southern California provides insight into the rich holdings of etchings and drawings on paper by the master in museums throughout the region. Together, Southern California’s drawn, etched and painted works attest to the remarkable range of Rembrandt’s achievement across his long career.