The exhibition of nearly 50 paintings set a record Saturday for single-day attendance when the paintings attracted a crowd of 7,212 people. They stood four deep at each of the artist’s three self-portraits, noting the blemishes and wrinkles he was careful to include.
“It wasn’t even a free day,” said Natalie Braswell, NCMA’s assistant marketing manager.
“Rembrandt in America” gathered more than $1 billion worth of artwork loaned by private collections and other museums, billed as the largest collection ever assembled in America. “There’s a lot of superlatives associated with this exhibition,” Braswell said. “The largest collection of Rembrandts … the first time it’s shown here.”
Bringing Rembrandt here represented a risk for the NCMA. The show could prove the museum’s ability to draw big crowds outside of a major city. But if the turnout was weak, it may have raised questions about the wisdom of constructing a new $86.2 million building during a recession and largely at taxpayers’ expense.
