Rembrandt

Last week I reported on LinkedIn that available documents from the 17th century showed that Rembrandt used three etching presses throughout his life. In response to a question from an English artist, I addressed the etching press that (may or may not) have been part of his bankrupt estate in 1656 (www.rembrandtsmoney.com, and other podcast channels, titled “RM24017 – Where… Read More »2025-03-doc2 Rembrandt’s insolvency estate: the etching press?

It is with great sadness that I read the announcement below about the passing away of Eric Dirix. He was professor emeritus at the University of Leuven and a justice in the Belgian Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) for more than 20 years. His significance for private law in Belgium, but also for the Netherlands, is enormous. His publications and… Read More »2402-02-doc 3 Passing away of Professor Eric Dirix

[See for English below] In Dordrecht, waar ik woon en werkt, wordt dit jaar 450 jaar Geboorte van Nederland gevierd. Dordrecht stond aan de wieg van wat nu Nederland is. Het startschot werd gegeven met de Eerste Vrije Statenvergadering. Deze werd van 19 tot 23 juli 1572 gehouden in het Hof. Deze locatie is onlangs vernieuwd en heropend. Tijdens deze… Read More »2022-06-doc3 Dordrecht – 450 jaar na Eerste Statenvergadering

Rembrandt (1606-1669) is seen as one of the greatest Dutch Golden Age painters. Was Rembrandt involved in cross-border insolvency matters? Research shows there are traces of commissions coming from outside Holland and indeed, financial distress surrounded him in the first half of the 1650s. In 1656 he went ‘bankrupt’, that is to say, Rembrandt voluntarily (no creditors chasing him) requested… Read More »2021-11-doc2 Was Rembrandt involved in cross-border insolvency issues?

Lidewij de Koekkoek, director of The Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam, received on 15 November 2021 the first copy of my book ‘Rembrandt’s Money. The legal and financial life of an artist-entrepeneur in 17th century Holland’. Via my blog readers have travelled along with my journey with over twenty blogs the last three years (https://bobwessels.nl/tag/rembrandt/) and I am pleased the… Read More »2021-11-doc1 Rembrandt’s Money book – out now!

Since July, every fortnight, I published dribs and drabs from my forthcoming book ‘Rembrandt’s Money’. The legal and financial life of an artist-entrepreneur in 17th century Holland. See https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2021-07-doc6-rembrandts-money-forthcoming/. In that same month I explained what the book covers and what it does not, see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2021-07-doc10-rembrandts-money-forthcoming-wysiwyg-and-opposite/. Now a short piece on trade law and arbitration. Trade law One of the… Read More »2021-10-doc3 Rembrandt’s Money (nearly there) – Arbitration in his day?

The eye of the financial storm around Rembrandt concerns his ‘bankruptcy’, another episode covered in my forthcoming book ‘Rembrandt’s Money. The legal and financial life of an artist-entrepreneur in 17th century Holland’ (see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2021-07-doc6-rembrandts-money-forthcoming/ and subsequent blogs since). In July 1656, Rembrandt requested a court to grant him ‘cessio bonorum’. The historic roots and the 17th century meaning of cessio… Read More »2021-10-doc2 Rembrandt’s Money (forthcoming) – Rembrandt’s ‘bankruptcy’

For Rembrandt addicts, 4 October is a prominent date. In the Register of Deaths of the Westerkerk it is recorded: ‘On 4 October 1669 [my] cousin, Rembrant van Rhijn, painter died (‘den 4 8b[er] is overleeden neeff Rembrant van Rhijn schilder’). The date of his passing away is given in a note by a relative of Rembrandt, Nicolaes Sebastiaensz Vinck.… Read More »2021-10-doc1 Rembrandt’s Money (forthcoming) – 4 October, a day to remember

Yet, another theme in my forthcoming book ‘Rembrandt’s Money. The legal and financial life of an artist-entrepreneur in 17th century Holland’ (see https://bobwessels.nl/blog/2021-07-doc6-rembrandts-money-forthcoming/) relates to Saskia Uylenburgh, Rembrandt’s wife. Last month I provided a sketch of the question which law applied to the marriage of Rembrandt and Saskia Uylenburgh? The laws of Friesland or those of Holland? Rembrandt noted in… Read More »2021-09-doc3 Rembrandt’s Money (forthcoming) – Titus and the Orphans Chamber