AMSTERDAM, LEIDEN AND HAGUE, HOLLAND.-In 2006, Holland will celebrate the 400th birthday of Rembrandt, Dutch master painter of the 17th century. Rembrandt’s birth year will be commemorated with an extensive and exciting program of exhibitions and events in Amsterdam, Leiden and The Hague.

Rembrandt Highlights in Amsterdam - From February 24 to June 18, 2006, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will host a blockbuster exhibition curated by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Rembrandt & Caravaggio, an encounter between two geniuses of the northern and southern Baroque with loans from prominent museums all over the world. A unique meeting of the two masters of light. Over twenty five monumental paintings will offer visual treats of powerful images exuding love, emotion and passion.

Throughout the year 2006, the Rijksmuseum will exhibit all the Rembrandt paintings and drawings which are a part of their extended collection, including the world-famous ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Jewish Bride’. From January 26 to February 19, 2006, visitors can see All the Rembrandt paintings from the Rijksmuseum’s collection.

For the first time the Rijksmuseum presents pieces that have once been attributed to Rembrandt, but in fact were not real Rembrandts. Really Rembrandt? will be on show from March 9 through May 31, 2006.

From June 2 through August 6, 2006 Nightwatching by Peter Greenaway, a theatrical installation with image and sound surrounding the Nightwatch, can be seen in the Rijksmuseum.

From August 11 to October 11, 2006 All the Drawings, part I: the Storyteller,
and from October 14 through December 31, 2006 All the Drawings, part II: The Observer show all 60 drawings from the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

The Rembrandt House Museum, the house in which the master lived and worked for more than 20 years, will host four exhibitions. One of the top attractions of the Rembrandt Year is the exhibition Rembrandt, the Quest of a Genius, April 1 to June 25, 2006. Rembrandt is considered one of the great art innovators, and his unique oeuvre the result of a life-long artistic quest. Well over 50 paintings and 50 drawings and etchings shed new light on Rembrandt as a creative genius and the mainstay in an extremely productive studio. Visitors of the exhibition will be allowed a peek in Rembrandt’s ‘laboratory’, where he enthusiastically supervised the dynamic artistic activity.

Other exhibitions in the Rembrandt House are Rembrandt and British Printmaking (December 17, 2005 – March 12, 2006). The exhibition shows graphical work by British artists from 1850-1930 who were inspired by Rembrandt. Rembrandt the Etcher (July 1 – August 27, 2006), shows Rembrandt as one of the greatest graphical talents of all time. His contemporaries already admired him for his free drawing technique, his dramatic clair obscure and his daring etching experiments. Until today his etchings have been a source of inspiration for various famous artists, such as Goya and Picasso. Rembrandt has made some 290 etchings altogether.

Uylenburgh & Son, Art and Commerce in Rembrandt's time (September 9 – December 3, 2006). The art dealers Hendrick and Gerrit Uylenburgh played a key role in art circles in 17th-century Amsterdam. After Rembrandt moved from Leiden to Amsterdam he worked for Hendrick Uylenburgh as the manager of his painting studio for nearly four years. Launched by Uylenburgh, Rembrandt soon acquired fame as Holland’s leading portrait painter. The exhibition presents a representative overview of the paintings and sculptures which the Uylenburgh store sold between 1625 and 1675. These include masterpieces by Antonie van Dyck, Govert Flinck, Caspar Netscher, Gerard Lairesse and, of course, Rembrandt.