The masterpiece of Kenwood Rembrandt will be on display at Gagosian in partnership with English Heritage
Exhibition includes self-portraits by Picasso, Bacon, Freud and Basquiat alongside contemporary artists including Baselitz, Prince and Saville
Il Rembrandt's legendary painting will be the centerpiece of a self-portrait exhibition that will also include works by Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud and Pablo Picasso, as well as important contemporary artists such as Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Albert Oehlen, Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman, among others. Furthermore, the occasion sees for the first time a new work created by Jenny Saville in response to Rembrandt's self-portrait.
La partnership between Gagosian and English Heritage, to be launched with this exhibition, sees the gallery supporting the charity and its sites, art and artefacts, including Kenwood, Rembrandt's self-portrait home in North London. Gagosian will advocate for the preservation of the painting's XNUMXth-century wooden frame.
Other future events between the two organizations are in the planning stage. Anna Eavis, Curatorial Director of English Heritage, comments: “Working with Gagosian will allow us to create exciting juxtapositions between our collections and the gallery's modern contemporary programme. We are happy to start with Rembrandt's Self-Portrait with Two Circles, which usually hangs at Kenwood. It is one of the great paintings in the world and, despite its considerable age, a strikingly modern work. “
After this exhibition occasion the work will return to Kenwood. In October this year, the painting will again be the scene of a special new display, timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt's death.
The work was painted when Rembrandt was in his sixties, Self-Portrait with Two Circles is considered to be the artist's largest self-portrait. Rembrandt painted himself in his studio, wearing a white linen cap and holding his brushes, palette and maulstick. One of his largest and most ambitious self-portraits of his own, the painting has sparked much speculative interpretation on aspects such as the enigma of the background circles that form its title. Edward Cecil Guinness, the 1888st Earl of Iveagh, bought the painting in 1986 and only later gave it to the British nation, together with sixty-two other exceptional paintings and the Kenwood estate. Since XNUMX, Kenwood and its collections have been entrusted to English Heritage. In accordance with the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood is open and free to the public.
Visions of the Self: Rembrandt and Now will be on view at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill from 12 April to 18 May 2019.
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English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites, including world-famous prehistoric sites, grand medieval castles, Roman fortresses on the edge of the empire, and a Cold War bunker. For more information, please visit www.english-heritage.org.uk.
gagosian Gallery was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by Larry Gagosian. For thirty-eight years the gallery has presented an unparalleled exhibition program featuring modern and contemporary artists.
