Rembrandt/Freud: Etchings from Life

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

This exhibition creates an opportunity for a visual conversation across the centuries between two great masters of the human form, Rembrandt van Rijn and Lucian Freud. Both artists regarded printmaking as an integral part of their art practice and created extraordinary images using the etching process. Uncompromising and direct, their etchings of the human face and the human body go beyond surface appearance to expose the inner life of their subjects. The exhibition juxtaposes self-portraits, "naked portraits" (nudes) and portraits of family and friends.

The exhibition includes 20 etchings by Freud on loan from the Mira Godard Gallery, the McMaster Museum of Art and several private collectors, and 30 works from the AGO’s extensive collection of etchings by Rembrandt. This collection was greatly enhanced by a generous gift from Esther and Sam Sarick in 2006.