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rembrandt

rembrandt Rembrandt is known as one of the greatest artists of the 17th century. He is also known as one of the greatest painters in western art. Rembrandt earned these titles rightfully so. He belonged to the Baroque period. The Baroque period had works of art that were emotional, dramatic, and included real people as the primary subjects. Rembrandt showed all of this in his work. Rembrandt was influenced by nature, religion, the Bible, and humanity. His paintings showed his moods and feelings towards all of these. He would study people, especially members of his family, including himself to use as the basis for his work. He created over two thousand works of art including; ninety self-portraits, sixty paintings, and the rest Rembrandt’s full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. He was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, the Netherlands. He was the ninth of ten children. His father was a miller, and even though he came from a family of modest means, his parents took great pride in education. Rembrandt began his studies at the Latin school. At the age of fourteen, he enrolled at the University of Leiden. This did not interest him and he soon left to study art. He was fascinated by the work of many Italian artists. He began his studies with a local master, Jacob van Swanenburch. he then went to Amsterdam to study with Pieter Lastman. After six months, Rembrandt had mastered everything so he went back to Leiden. Even though he was only twenty-two, he was so highly respected that he took on his first students. He continued to teach In 1631, he moved to Amsterdam and married Saskia van Uylenburgh. Her relation to an art dealer enhanced his career. Saskia was one of his favorite models for his work. Together they had a son, Titus. Soon after his birth Saskia died. Rembrandt’s housekeeper, Hendrickje Stiffels eventually became his common-law wife. She was also a model for many of Rembrandt’s creations. By the mid 1650’s he was living so far beyond his means, along with his lavish collections of paintings and because he had begun to paint for pleasure more than for profit, he eventually had to declare bankruptcy. He slowly lost his popularity, but he continued to paint. He died a debtor in Amsterdam in October of 1669. Rembrandt created so many works of art that not every piece could be discussed. During the early years, his paintings show the influence of his teacher, Pieter Lastman. His subjects were dramatic, compositional organization was crowded, and he used energetic opposition of shadow and light. He frequently chose historical and religious themes for his work. In many of his early works, he shows his love of exotic costumes. A perfect example is The Noble Slav from 1632. He was preoccupied with features of the sitter and the many details surround them such as furniture and clothes. Sometimes when using family members, he would conceal them as another, such as when he used Saskia as Flora from 1634 or his Mother as the Prophetess Anna from 1631. During this time he was so engrossed in self analysis that he created many self-portraits, around sixty. Perhaps, he created more self-portraits than any other artist has. Many of this pictures contributed to studies of various emotions, which were later used in his religious and historical paintings. The may have also been used to illustrate his command of chiaroscuro, or the use of light and shade without color. In one painting deep shadows cover his face, leaving his features almost unrecognizable. In Protestant Holland during this time, religious art was valued as not being important. Even so, biblical and religious subjects accounted for about one-third of his work. Drama, as part of the Baroque period, was fully The middle period Rembrandt’s influence of classicism is shown. In the Portrait of the Mennonite Preacher Anslo and His Wife from 1641, the interaction and sense of reality is amazingly accomplished. The preacher is speaking to his wife, perhaps speaking of a religious message, and she is quietly, intensely listening. Many of Rembrandt’s work shows dialogue and represents an important moment frozen forever. His use of light in these paintings enhance the meaning behind them. This can especially be seen in Supper at Emmaus from 1648. This has been called a very emotional and moving piece of artwork. During the middle period, Rembrandt also had a large interest in landscapes and he created romantic examples of them. These were based on a psychological or imaginative sense instead of a “real” place. A classical prestige, perhaps from Italy is shown in these portraits. they consisted of ruins and rolling hills. This were not part of the flat, Dutch country. River Valley with Ruins from this phase shows the possibility of the classical, Italian influence. Many of these landscapes were created for his own pleasure, something that was unusual for this His historical paintings were also part of this time frame. The Conspiracy of the Batavians from 1661 is a powerful remaining piece of a night scene that shows his brilliant, immense historical work. During the later years, were when his greatest paintings were created. Rembrandt no longer cared about Baroque drama, outward dazzle or trivial details. The pieces created showed his ability to extract emotions, mystery, and spiritual concern. His palettes were rich in color and bold in his brushwork. One of his best portraits and a perfect example of this is that of Jan Six from 1654. He is shown in a fiercely colored gold, red, and gray costume putting on a glove. Rembrandt demonstrates Six’s quiet mood using delicate light on his face. Rembrandt also created many etches and drawings. Most were not used for paintings or prints. Because they were for private use, most are not signed. Most were done in black or red chalk. One of the most popular pieces ever created by Rembrandt was The Night Watch from 1642 during his mature period. It was well liked by many for it’s highly, powerful, dramatic effect. It shows a group of city guardsmen waiting for the command to fall in line from the visit of Marie de’ Medici to Amsterdam. The lighting is brilliant, high-contrast, and depicts movement. The lighting is also that of a violent contrast of light and dark. Most of the colors are deep shades of red, yellow, black, and bronze. In the composition of the portrait, some of the figures are hidden, and overlapped by the darkness, while others stand out in the front, individually by a beautiful stream of light. The picture depicts drama In conclusion, I feel that Rembrandt was a brilliant artist who was true to himself and untamed by tradition. He was a master of his own style. To each work of art, he gave his best effort. His use of light and shade to produce those types of atmosphere in his works took him way beyond the traditional methods. His desire and willingness to explore and go beyond the visual to portray the psychological character manifested innovation. This was shown in his own visual statue which reveals to us so much more of what may have been below the surface. The courage to do all of this especially in the face of adversity, could only be a lesson to all of those who came after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Bibliography:

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