Rembrandt Study c. 1977 - 1983

Curator: Barry Flanagan, the artist, created this intimate image called "Rembrandt Study." It resides here at the Tate. Editor: It looks like a fever dream, all these figures tumbling out of each other. The raw lines are so immediate, almost frantic. Curator: Note how Flanagan uses etchings to link the figures, giving them that ephemeral, dreamlike quality, almost as if they're emerging from memory itself. Editor: The female nudes feel particularly vulnerable. Placed next to the male figures, you get a sense of the power dynamics at play. Is he implicating Rembrandt and himself? Curator: Perhaps. Flanagan seems to be engaging with Rembrandt's mastery, using a similar visual language to probe at deeper psychological states and universal themes. Editor: It definitely prompts me to consider who gets remembered, whose gaze gets centered, and the responsibility artists have when engaging with the past. Curator: Indeed, and Flanagan's study invites us to see anew. Editor: Absolutely, a fresh perspective on an old master.