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Conference

Rembrandt, Philosopher of the Brush

Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 8:30 a.m.

The Jacquemart-André Museum will host a living philosophy session, conceived by Precious Talk and led by the philosopher Patrick Liégeois, a specialist in Heidegger.

This encounter offers a rare experience: bringing philosophy and painting into dialogue, not through commentary, but starting from the artwork itself.

Through a selection of paintings, the audience will discover how Rembrandt can be read, through Heidegger’s lens, as a true philosopher of the brush, an artist whose painting brings meaning into being through light, presence, and unveiling.

What this session offers in concrete terms

  • Seeing artworks differently, beyond art history or biography

  • Understanding how a painting can “think” without abstract discourse

  • Experiencing a moment of embodied reflection, accessible with no philosophical prerequisites

  • Leaving with a lasting, transformed way of looking at Rembrandt’s work

This is neither a formal lecture nor an academic course, but a suspended moment between seeing and thinking, in which the artwork is allowed to “speak” freely.

The reflection will be grounded in particular around The Pilgrims at Emmaus, a masterpiece held by the museum, offering an exceptional point of convergence between philosophy, painting, and the Jacquemart-André Museum’s collections.

Speaker Presentation

Patrick Liégeois

Originally trained as a jurist, he went on to complete his education with studies in philosophy, culminating in a doctoral thesis at Paris-Sorbonne entitled Heidegger and the Sense of Sense: A Pathway Toward Tautological Thinking. His academic career was largely devoted to teaching philosophy to law students preparing for the competitive entrance examination to the judiciary. While such teaching could draw inspiration from Heidegger’s notion of sense, it could not be centered on that question alone, as it appeared insufficiently “legal” in nature. As a result, toward the end of his career, Patrick Liégeois decided to return to his doctoral research in order to confirm its relevance by applying it to a specific work. This research took concrete form in an essay entitled Rembrandt, Philosopher of the Brush: Meaning in the Work of Rembrandt.

Book your ticket

Practical Information

Date : Thursday, March 12, 2026
Time : 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Format : Lecture
Speaker : Patrick Liégeois, Philosopher