By Daniel Fulco, Ph.D., Agnita M. Stine Schreiber Curator

In celebration of both Vivarès’s and Rembrandt’s birthdays this month (July 11 and 15), we hope that you enjoy this etching from the museum’s collection.

François Vivarès (French, 1709‒80)
after Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606‒69)
Beggar Man and Beggar Woman Conversing (originally c. 1620‒39),
this impression printed c. 1766
Etching
3.4375″H x 2.4375″W
Collection of Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
Gift of Dr. John & Mrs. Sylvie O’Brien, 2022.1.6    
 
Rembrandt van Rijn, a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, was one of the most significant Dutch artists of his generation. He exerted a major impact on the history of art through his tremendous versatility in multiple mediums and mastery of a diverse range of subjects, including history and literature, biblical themes, portraiture, landscape, and genre scenes (depictions of everyday life) such as this etching.
 
Over the centuries, many artists (including printmaker François Vivarès) were fascinated by Rembrandt’s technical approach and style, and they copied his prints frequently. Chiaroscuro involves dramatic juxtapositions of light and dark often employed in European Baroque art. In this composition, the contrast is achieved through cross-hatching (note the dark shading of the beggars’ faces and clothing, as well as the ground) and manipulation of ink on the copper plate, from which Vivarès made this print.
 
In this etching, two beggars, who appear to have stopped along a road, converse with one another. Note that the woman’s mouth is open, indicating that she is speaking, while the man (his head lowered slightly) gazes at her, listening intently. Their ragged clothes and unkempt appearance underscore their poverty and arduous lives. Emulating Rembrandt, Vivarès highlighted the humanity of ordinary people and their existence, emphasizing the emotional and physical interactions between the man and woman in this etching. This work exhibits the type of informality and frankness more characteristic of a spontaneous, quick sketch made from direct experience. Thus, the scene conveys a remarkable immediacy; it is as if the artist has frozen the pair’s fleeting actions in time.
 
A French artist who worked in London, Vivarès was employed by the notable art dealer and publisher, John Boydell (1719‒84). It is possible that Vivarès collaborated with engraver John Baptist Chatelain (c. 1710‒54) to complete a series of plates and prints (see the numeral 2 in the upper right) after Rembrandt (like the museum’s example), which were published by the London artist and merchant, Arthur Pond (c. 1705‒58), beginning in 1744. Here, we observe that Vivarès reworked Rembrandt’s original composition (see below), reversing the image (which would happen naturally as part of the printmaking process. If he drew his composition directly from Rembrandt’s print, it would become reversed in the process), altering the details of the beggars’ facial expressions and clothing, reducing the space around the figures, and incising his signature (“F.V. fecit,” Latin for “made [this]”) and including a rendition of Rembrandt’s monogram below (“R.H. 1620”). Like Rembrandt, Vivarès sought to capture similar variations in light and dark on the man and woman, though the Dutch master placed her in more shadow.

Rembrandt van Rijn
Beggar Man and Beggar Woman Conversing, 1630
Etching, second state of three
3 x 2 5/8 in.
Collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York