Museum Collections: The Weil Collection of Old Master Prints

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has one of the finest collections and facilities for the study of works on paper of any municipal museum in the country. Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Adolph “Bucks” Weil, Jr., a connoisseur of European prints made before 1900, the Museum holds works by artists from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century as part of its European print collection.

Many of the outstanding printmakers of art history are represented in the Museum’s collection — from fifteenth-century engravers such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer to one of the world’s most beloved practitioners, Rembrandt van Rijn. Etchings by Canaletto, aquatints by Goya and lithographs by Whistler — the array of printmaking techniques and artists presents the rich heritage of this art form in Western culture.

The Weil Graphic Arts Study Center

The Weil Graphic Arts Study Center is named in honor of Adolph “Bucks” Weil, Jr., a prominent collector of Old Master prints. Mr. Weil was the person most responsible for the creation of the Museum's collection of Old Master prints, donating both works of art and funds to support the collection.

The study center serves as a rotating gallery for the installation of works on paper as well as a state-of-the-art classroom and meeting space. Groups of students are able to utilize the facility to further explore topics in art history related to graphic arts, aided by a special slantboard case which allows more flexible installation of matted paper works. A special feature of the room is a CD-ROM presentation on the Weil print collection. The interactive display allows visitors to learn more about selected pieces in the collection as they visit the room.

Prints by Rembrandt van Rijn

One of the great masters of printmaking, Rembrandt van Rijn, is particularly well represented in the Museum's collection. These fine impressions were largely the gift of Mr. Adolph “Bucks” Weil, Jr., an ardent collector of that artist’s work. Landscapes, such as The Omval, as well as lyrical and beautiful portraits such as The Great Jewish Bride, are periodically exhibited in the Museum's print galleries.

Pastoral themes were a major element in Rembrandt’s printmaking oeuvre. He frequently depicted the intersection of nature and man’s world-the built environment of towns or cities. In this work, the composition is divided between nature on the left (represented by the aged, knarled tree trunk) and the encroaching town across the river. Rembrandt discovered these vistas on walks that he took near Amsterdam, along the dikes that held back the water to preserve the life of the Dutch countryside.

Like many of Rembrandt’s prints, this work was not titled by the artist. The Great Jewish Bride is a popular title, based upon the woman’s flowing hair (a nuptial tradition of the time) and the scroll she holds in her hand. (It was once thought to be a wedding contract.) Subsequent scholarship has suggested many other possibilities for the identity of this sitter, including the biblical heroine, Esther.

This image of a beggar is believed to be a self-portrait. Rembrandt was known to carry sketchbooks with him as he went about his daily routine, and he often made spontaneous drawings of people he saw on the street. Other sources for figures in his prints were works of art he saw or he collected. This depiction of a beggar is particularly poignant-the facial expression is ambiguous, simultaneously suggesting both sadness and belligerence.

The Goldsmith is a tiny print, but its composition suggests the great love of the artist for his creations. Craftspersons were respected for their skill in his day, but Rembrandt suggests in this print that they were more than mere artisans. He captures the tenderness and protective emotions of man who has invested his own life-force into the product of his mind, as well as his hands.