Favorite Artists 9- Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn, "Self Portrait with Beret," 1659

When I first encountered the 17th century Dutch painters, as a very young man, the work looked gloomy and entirely too uniformly dark and brown to suit my unschooled eyes. In those years if I visited an art museum anywhere I gave the Dutch school a wide birth. Too dark. Too cramped. Too solemn and entirely too serious. Like many my feet turned quickly to the Impressionist galleries and to traditional realism in the form of painters like Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper or Andrew Wyeth, if any of their works were in the museum's collection. But eventually my vision matured and I began to see beyond any perceived darkness to appreciate the genius in the paint.

Although other Dutch painters of that same time period are equally famous and I appreciate many of them (Hals, Vermeer, e.g.), Rembrandt Harmenzoon van Rijn (1606-1669) is a painter whose intelligence, study, ability, and curiosity make him one of my perennial favorites. He was bright, industrious and persevering through a life filled with tragedy yet all the while produced an enduring body of work.

Rembrandt van Rijn, "Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes," 1634

He was born in Leiden into a well-off merchant family and educated as an apprentice in several artists' studios. One of them was Pieter Lastman who had been to Italy and is said to have been significantly influenced by Caravaggio. Lastman seems to have passed Caravaggio's use of tenebrism as a pictorial device along, since Rembrandt employs the method commonly in his mature works and yet never left the Netherlands. By 1625 at only nineteen he opened his own studio in Leiden and began training students a couple of years later. Before he was thirty Rembrandt was in Amsterdam and quite successful as a portraitist. He soon married and became a member of the local guild of painters, a settled and prosperous man. From that point in his life you would expect Rembrandt to have been a continued success. Saskia, his wife, modeled for him and can be seen in a number of works like "Judith at the Banquet," (above). But tragedy came soon with the deaths of several children and the death of his wife, Saskia, after only six years of marriage.

Rembrandt seems to have lived beyond his means for much of his life, so that he eventually died almost penniless, but for the immediate future as a widower he maintained his large house and studio with a woman hired to care for his only son Titus. She in turn eventually won a suit against him for breach of promise, further adding to his expenses. He eventually entered an intimate relationship with Hendrickje Stoffels, who was much younger and had been his maid. They did not marry, but had a child, resulting her denunciation by the church. Before much longer, Rembrandt was forced to sell nearly all of his belongings, including his house, to settle debts and avoid bankruptcy. The Amsterdam painters guild enacted a rule preventing anyone in Rembrandt's circumstances from trading as a painter. During the 1660s Hendrickje died, then Titus. Rembrandt himself outlived them by only a year.

"Danae," 1636

Regardless of his tragic life, the works themselves live on for all of us. Here are a few more. "Danae," another early painting. Saskia was the model for this work of classic mythology as well. Danae greets Zeus as he comes to her bed. This painting is in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Thirty years ago it was attacked with acid by an insane man and (it was thought) almost completely destroyed. Extensive restoration has produced the work now hanging.

"Woman Bathing," 1654

Another favorite of mine dates to nearly twenty years later. "Woman Bathing" (right) was modelled by Rembrandt's common-law wife Hendrickje. In this very personal image we watch a woman who seemingly doesn't notice us as she steps into her bath. This painting seems less finished than other works and may have been a study, since the brushwork is spontaneous and broad. Regardless, the difference between the two figures is obvious. As he aged, Rembrandt's palette became more muted and his brushwork and edges loose and masterly--an example much like Velazquez' work.

"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp," 1632

Another particular favorite of mine is "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp," a fascinating early work commissioned by the Amsterdam surgeons guild. Dr. Tulp was the city anatomist and the only person legally allowed to perform dissections, and then only on executed criminals. Dr. Tulp explains the musculature of the arm to a group of spectators who had paid to attend. The composition and clarity are typical of Rembrandt's early works.

"The Carcass of Beef," 1655

Although many think of Rembrandt as a painter of portraits, which he certainly was, he made pictures of a wide range of subjects. An example of that wide range is Rembrandt's "Carcass of an Ox," dating from 1655. The painting depicts a butchered and flayed ox, it's head and internal organs removed. Although brutal, it is a real masterpiece. It's actual purpose may have been as a study in anatomy and the appearance of bones and musculature. Regardless, it takes a gruesome subject and turns it into a striking image.

Finally my favorite self portrait is the one Rembrandt completed in 1669, the year of his death. Only ten years after the self portrait (at a vigorous age 53) that opened this blog post, the selfie of 1669 shows Rembrandt an exhausted and puffy-faced old man. Only the face shows much finish--the hands and garments are relatively sketchy--but what a finish. You feel as if you could reach behind his head and pull his hair. The nose almost seems to project from the canvas. This is mastery of the highest level. If another painter had produced only this single work, he would be remembered forever.

Perhaps knowing the tragedy of Rembrandt's life adds to an understanding of his work and how it evolved. Certainly here is a master of masters.