Rembrandt reMastered "Night Watch Grand Rehearsal"

a masterpiece in chalk

...preparing for a tour around the world...

fine art meets street art

...why this event?

well, it's a celebration!

In my early years as a streetpainting enthusiast I stumbled upon a guy named Ton, the electrician. As it turned out I was actually following in his footsteps, all the way up to my hometown at the time Utrecht. He shared many stories with me. One of them was about his magnus opus, a rendering of the Rijksmuseum's Night Watch in black & white chalks, in his back yard. It took him 30 days to complete, as I remember. I must have a copy of a newspaper clipping somewhere. If I find it, I will post it here as well.

Not much later I also saw photos of another inspiring pavement art project: a copy of the Sistine Chapel ceiling created at the 10th anniversay of the Youth in Arts Festival in Marin, California. The festival where I 'discovered' pavement art for the first time in 2001. I was immediately ´infected´ which resulted in Chalk Fever. And the rest is history.

These two inspirations eventually inspired me to a project to mark and celebrate my 20 years in street painting, coming full circle, as well as pay tribute to this amazing and ephemeral art form and my Dutch heritage.

But not only that. We also see it as a live study. A Grand Rehearsal for a larger and longer journey: taking 'our' Night Watch experience to the far corners of the world. In an extra large format. Only executed once at every hosted venue, just 7 times in total.

For that we need to become very familiar first with Rembrandt and his Nacht Wacht. Up close and personal. And we can only do that by crawling in his skin, picking his brain and relive all the decisions he made while creating his greatest masterpiece. Impossible of course. But nevertheless we are going to embark on this truly unique adventure! We hope you join us.

peter westerink

believing is seeing. seeing is believing

Rembrandt Remastered, the Night Watch on World Tour.

contact us for more inquiries

why is it taking place in Wilhelmshaven?

Every journey starts with a first step. And Wilhelmshaven as host of the International Street Art Festival for over more than a decade now, a festival I had the privilage to visit and participate in numerous times over the years, and in various ways, just is the perfect place and partner for the next stage of our artistic journey. And I was happy to hear that the organizers, Michael, Annika and Mirco of Wilhelmshaven Freizeit & Touristik GmbH were as enthusiastic about the project as I was. As a result we have made this event happen together.

read on below for more background information

what is it? the vision & goal

Rembrandt Remastered ~ The Night Watch on World Tour is an artistic challenge to create and exhibit the world's largest rendering of a Rembrandt Masterpiece in ephemeral Soft Chalk Pastels at 7 different places and on five different continents. This Grand Rehearsal is a big step towards that destination.

Our aim is to temporarily recreate and restore Rembrandt's Night Watch, one of the world's most famous paintings, to it's fullest glory. Not only that. By doing so we are taking the first steps to eventually create the world's largest rendering of this Masterpiece ever.

This time not painted on a vertical canvas, but hand drawn with soft pastels on a horizontal surface. A huge challenge and an amazing work of pavement art of 100m2, which is more than six times the current size of the Night Watch, and five times larger than the original piece of 1642.

As you may know, The Night Watch as it is presented currently in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is missing some parts (left, right, top; current size: 437x363 cm (15.86m2). However the original size is believed to be: 500x387cm (19.35m2). Research has indicated this.

See also: K.H. de Haas (1928) Een meetkundige reconstructie van het oorspronkelijke formaat van Rembrandts Nachtwacht, p. 14 ("a geometrical reconstruction of the original dimensions of Rembrandt's Night Watch").

We will be 'restoring' those pieces to present the complete original version to a live audience, both offline and online. The entire 'paint' process will take approx. 5 days. After which we imagine adding another day or two to exhibit the finished piece.

We haven't found any evidence that in the past such a large-scaled attempt in chalk/soft pastels has been made with one of Rembrandt's masterpieces, or any other Old Master for that matter, since the impressive artworks of other fellow pavement artists:

*1991 - Grazie di Curtatone, I Madonnari festival, pope visit, Italy
*2003 - San Rafael Youth in Arts Festival, 10 year anniversary, USA
*2007 - Monterrey Bella Via Festival eyecatcher, Mexico
*2008 - New york, Guinnes World Record, Last Supper rendering, USA

See images below.

Note: 'The only full-sized replica of the Nightwatch in the Western world is displayed by the Canajoharie Library & Art Gallery, in Canajoharie, New York, donated to the library in the early 20th century by the library's founder, Bartlett Arkell.' Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Watch (see under Other Representations). See also The Rijksmuseum, 'Jouw Nachtwacht Project'.

Our incentive for this awesome one-time (indoor) event is as much to push our artistic limits as to inspire others. To do something challenging, unique and high-quality, for a worldwide audience, both offline and online, while paying homage to Rembrandt and the Dutch Old Masters. Also, and as important, it will be the first time that this Masterpiece can be admired outside the walls of the Rijksmuseum, AND people can witness the entire (re)creation of it, start to finish.

The Night Watch, as mentioned, is a permanent resident of the Rijksmuseum, so to see it live one needs to travel to Amsterdam. This is perhaps the main reason why we bring this event to you, taking the Night Watch on a unique tour around the world: so that people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world can experience the magic of the Night Watch in a unique setting, up close and personal.

We hope for this unique and challenging project to happen in the foreseeable future. Exact dates and location have not yet been determined, that will depend on partnerships, venue availability and suitability etc. We are currently looking for partners to support the idea and make this project happen together with us.

Peter Westerink

Grazie 1991 San Rafael 2003 Monterrey 2007 New York 2008

Last judgement Sistine Chapel replica Sistine Chapel replica #2 Last Supper