Ronnie Wood’s Rembrandt: Rolling Stones star, 75, recreated stolen masterpiece and wants to orchestrate a ‘reverse heist’ to put his picture up in museum
- The rock ‘n’ roll icon is contributing to an exhibition on Dutch master Rembrandt
- He has recreated the painter’s masterpiece The Storm on the Sea of Galilee
- The 1633 oil-on-canvas was stolen in 1990 by two thieves from a US museum
He’s swapped a life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll for a quieter existence painting in his rural home studio.
But Ronnie Wood remains a hell-raiser at heart – and says he is planning an art scandal with a twist in his latest work.
The Rolling Stones star, 75, has recreated Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Storm on the Sea of Galilee on a grand scale for an exhibition of his recent work.
The 1633 oil-on-canvas was stolen from a museum in Boston, US, in 1990 by two thieves posing as policemen in what remains one of the biggest thefts in art history.
Unveiling his homage to the Dutch master at Kenwood House in London, Wood joked that he’d like to perform the heist in reverse – by sneaking his version into the empty frame at the museum the original was stolen from.
Ronnie Wood, pictured here at the exhibition in Kenwood House, has recreated a painting by Dutch master Rembrandt
He had done a version of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, which was painted by Rembrandt in 1633. Pictured is the original
Speaking to the Mail, the guitarist said: ‘When I saw the empty frame I said to the curator there “what a shame”. I thought, I know what I’m going to do.
‘When I get back to England, I’m going to paint the replica of it and do a reverse heist and break into the museum at night and put my picture up.’
Wood, who paints in his ‘man cave’ on the edge of a forest at his Hertfordshire home, has created a ‘bonus seascape on the side’.
He added: ‘So it’s a diptych. A double painting of one which is the tribute to the Rembrandt from my imagination and it kind of looks like a continuation and it’s a message of hope for the future.’
The masterpiece by the Dutch artist was stolen from a museum in Boston, United States, in 1990. Pictured is the empty frame where the painting once rested
Like Rembrandt in the original, Wood has painted himself into the scene. ‘I’m holding Rembrandt steady. I’m saying: “Hold still old chap. Hold on to that rope”.’
The painting, which depicts the biblical story of Jesus calming the storm, was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and has never been found, despite several leads.
Wood studied art in the 1960s before going into music.
An earlier Rembrandt recreation – of Self-Portrait with Two Circles – which Wood did at 12 is also on show at Kenwood. The free exhibition runs from today until Sunday.
Agonised… and impressive
By Richard Morris, Art Historian
Two things are crucial to Rembrandt’s pictures. He shares and takes to its extreme the simple, everyday Dutch affection for real life, and he gave his clients what they wanted, the truest depiction of a scene.
He did this by mixing his deep knowledge of art history into his palette. Out of this comes an achievement that leaves most art lagging far behind.
What then of Ronnie Wood’s The Storm on the The Sea of Galilee? It is an impressive, realistic picture. He has done well to find the difficult angles of this composition and capture the sea’s brutal energy.
We can sense the deafening noise of the waves and the thunderous roar of the storm. We can feel the vulnerability on those on board.
What we are seeing is an artist putting huge emotion and energy into his work. It’s an intelligent, agonising picture, full of the roar of nature and the turbulence of Ronnie Wood.
Source: Read Full Article