The Rijksmuseum has announced a free day on July 2 from 9AM to 9PM.
The Museum will place on display for the first time since 1956 the Rembrandt masterpieces "Marten and Oopjen"
They were recently acquired from the Rothschild Family private collection for a whopping 160 Million Euro.
The price was so steep that neither the French nor Dutch government could afford to buy the pair, so in an unprecedented agreement, they will be jointly owned by France and the Netherands, and will be displayed on an alternating basis at the Rijksmuseum and the Louve. They will only be displayed as intended, as a pair. They will be on display until 2 October, when they will be taken off display for restoration. Once restored, they will alternate display between the Louve and the Rijks every 5-8 years.
Now for the backstory:
Rembrandt painted the pair in 1634, at the age of 28, a year after the "Nightwatch" at the peak of his skills.
They are his only life size "pendant" paintings. The Sooloman family was his most important patron, and when offered the chance to do wedding portraits of Marten and Oopjen, he could not refuse. Prior to this time, lifesize wedding portraits were for kings and queens. This comission, by commoners, was an unprecedented display of both wealth and balls. Each painting cost 4000 guilders, the annual salary of a high ranking government official or minister. Marten died relatively young, and Oopjen remaried at least twice. The paintings were passed down through her family in Alkmaar, until they were purchased by the Rothschild family about 1700. There was a mini-uproar when they were allowed to leave the Netherlands for Paris. They have rarely been seen in public since that purchase, and were among the most sought-after paintings held outside the public realm. Easily in the top 10 of Rembrandt's works, the re-acquisition of these paintings led the Dutch Ministry of Culture to provide every schoolchild in the Netherlands a comic book about the paintings.
(If anyone can get their hands on one of these comic books, PLEASE let me know. I would LOVE to have one. I am SUCH and art geek!)
I'm not sure I would take up the offer of a "free" day at the Rijk's, as it is likely to be a zoo, but I would would certainly make an effort to see these paintings before they are taken down for restoration. They will be my number one priority on my next visit. If you are in town at the end of August, you can find me sitting in front of them, weeping for joy.
After a good cry, I will retire to the Pijp, for a celebratory shag. Like a true art geek.

Weasel