Feb 3, 2026

The Work of Rembrandt’s Last Known Pupil

Arent de Gelder’s The Artist’s Studio on view as part of Painted Presence: Rembrandt and his Peers

Arent de Gelder, The Artist’s Studio, around 1710–1715. Oil on canvas, 48.9 x 57.8 cm. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Gift of Alfred and Isabel Bader, 2015 (58-010)

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) is considered one of the most important artists of all time, largely because of his distinct approach to portraiture. His signature style of depicting human subjects inspired a generation of 17th century Dutch artists, some of whom started out as his pupils. In the AGO and Agnes Etherington Art Centre joint exhibition Painted Presence: Rembrandt and his Peers, seven works by or attributed to the legendary portraitist are on view alongside several other works by Dutch artists of the period. Poetically, one of them depicts a scene from the interior of an art studio much like Rembrandt’s and was created by his last known student.

The Artist’s Studio (1710 – 1715) by Arent de Gelder (1645 – 1727) features a studio interior during a portrait painting session, with artist, sitter and artist assistant all within the frame. Painted Presence co-curators Adam Harris Levine, AGO Associate Curator of European Art and Suzanne van de Meerendonk, Bader Curator of European Art, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, consider this de Gelder work a crucial inclusion in the exhibition. The scene it depicts is emblematic of the type of sitting sessions behind most of the works in the show.

“The painting shows us wonderful, hyper-specific details of how a portrait was painted in an artist's studio”, says Levine. “We see a big window letting natural light in on the left; this light is managed by a shade that looks like it can be moved with a set of strings; there is an assistant at the back left with his back to us who is probably grinding pigments and mixing paints, and the artist is holding a maulstick in his left hand, which he would use to steady the paint brush in his right hand (we have to assume it's there, his back covers it in the composition)”.

A lesser-known artist of his era, Arent de Gelder was born and died in Doerdrecht, in the Netherlands. A student of Rembrandt’s in his Amsterdam studio from 1661 from 1663 (when he was 16 to18 years old), de Gelder is credited for helping to carry forward the iconic artist’s late expressive style into the 18th century. His complete body of work is consistent with this approach with a majority of works inspired by biblical events.

Painted Presence: Rembrandt and his Peers features portraits, interiors and still lifes by Rembrandt, Arent de Gelder, Abraham Susnier, David Bailly and others. The exhibition is on view in the Reuben Wells Leonard Rotunda (gallery 115) on Level 1 of the AGO.