(Amsterdam) Lilian Ramcharan smiles confidently as the illustrious Dutch tattoo artist “Hanky Panky” inscribes an indelible drawing of a famous 17th-century elephant on her shoulder bladee century, conforming to a work by Rembrandt.
The Amsterdammer is the first to take part in the project “The Rembrandt of the poor” which brings together four artists of another genre until Sunday at a museum in Amsterdam where the Dutch master had worked in the 17th century.e century.
“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring what used to be popular into the elite world – or vice versa! “, rejoices with AFP Henk Schiffmacher alias “Hanky Panky”.
The 71-year-old artist with a rock and roll look says a former tattoo artist called the tattoos “poor man’s Rembrandt”.
If they are more affordable than a master painting, they are nonetheless “carefully executed and selected”, underlines in a press release the Dutchman well known in the world of tattooing, who prides himself on having tattooed members of the group of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Motorhead.
“I felt very honored to be the first and to be (tattooed) by Henk himself,” Lilian, 36-year-old Rembrandt House Museum security manager, told AFP. with arms covered in tattoos.
PHOTO SIMON WOHLFAHRT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The illustrious Dutch tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher, aka “Hanky Panky”
Several dozen different tattoos are offered to visitors.
The Hansken elephant, now carried by Lilian, had traveled through the fairs and gardens of Europe and been painted by Rembrandt in Amsterdam.
Also on offer are windmills, self-portraits, characters from works and even the signature of the painter of The Night Watch.
Ninety people booked appointments for tattoos, which cost between 100 and 250 euros ($145 and $215). The museum also offers some walk-in time slots.
PHOTO SIMON WOHLFAHRT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The Hansken elephant, now carried by Lilian Ramcharan, had traveled through the fairs and gardens of Europe and been painted by Rembrandt in Amsterdam.
“A new generation of 21st century artistse century […] set up his studio” in the building where they worked in the 17the century Rembrandt, his assistants and his pupils, rejoiced the house of Rembrandt in a press release.
The museum believes that the work of the tattoo artists and the Dutch master have important similarities.
“Whether it’s engravings or tattoos, it all starts with a design, which is then applied to the surface with ink and a needle,” the museum said in a statement.
But while the Dutch Golden Age master used a copper plate and a sheet of paper to turn his composition into an engraving, “tattoo artists apply their design to human skin.”
“The end result is a work of art that you carry with you for life,” he concludes.