History of World Art II: Day 52

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669) was a Dutch painter and Printmaker (etching and dry point). He is considered to be one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history. He is the most important in Dutch history and his contributions to art helped define the period of the Dutch Golden Age.

He seems to have been a character judging by his numerous self-portraits with funny expressions of shock or surprise. Rembrandt relished in the details, but not the stodgy boring ones like some classical painters, but a more generalized impression of detail. He developed a technique to gather all the lines and shadows with what looks like aquatint and fine lines drawn with the burin. In his paintings he used warm washes of light and color with spot lights and dynamic compositions to guide the viewer through the scene. Each of his subjects is done masterfully; the portraits are warm and intimate with character bursting forth to set the mood; the historical pieces are dynamic and full of life creating composition diagonals and undulating with life. Storm on the Sea of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633 uses the mast of the boat to create an extremely strong diagonal compositional device that takes up almost the entire canvas. He seemed to use a lot of varnish on many of his paintings which is too bad, because it caused many of them to darken quite a bit over time. It seems to me that he was the first impressionist, as his later paintings were made up of dabs of paint to create the look or effect from afar… it is said that he discouraged people from looking too closely at his paintings (I’m sure no one would have understood and thought it scandalous back then…) He developed his own iconography based on his knowledge of classical art, and he molded the scenes to portray his understanding of the story (such as biblical scenes).

Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,
1633. It is still missing after robbery from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

From the Antiques Road Show:
Rembrandt, Etching, Selfportrait - Postage Stamp Size
Material:     Paper
Period / Style:      17th Century
Value Range:      $50,000 - $75,000