Rembrandt

Ivor Newton, famous in his day as an art critic, wrote that he had a blind spot when it came to Rembrandt. I thought of this when I went to Cardiff museum today to see an original painting by Rembrandt:Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet. It's a well composed, well painted picture of a middle aged woman who evidently is quite well off and has a certain plain dignity. But I thought to myself "why should I find anything interesting in looking at this work?" She sits on the chair and reminds me of my grandmother, not of the same period of course since the portrait was executed in 1657 and my grandmother lived until the 1950's; but there is the same air of quiet authority without there being any animosity or hate there, just that acceptance of life's pleasures and troubles without celebrating the pleasures or letting the troubles bring you down.
We were in Amsterdam a couple of years ago and went to the large Van Gogh exhibition there. I am not too keen on Van Gogh's earlier paintings of workers eating potatoes etc. and by the time I had got round a couple of the rooms, needing most of the time to have to crane my neck to see the pictures over the crowd of admirers, slowly, inch by inch, making their way with their tape recorders but then I was whacked and needed a seat. So, even if I had known that a large Rembrandt exhibition was down the street from this one I don't think I'd have managed to see it. In short, I needed a seat and a drink. No, not coffee.
Cardiff museum it seems to me, has been transformed from the rather dull store of tresaures to a place which is alive with art and history. There is now so much to see and it is all presented so well that even that which I thought uninteresting has now become worth seeing.
The restaurant is good too: an attractive menu which I didn't sample and good coffee which I did.