Rembrandt+van+Rign

Rembrandt van Rign was a Dutch painter and etcher. Born in 1606, Rembrandt partook in the baroque movement of art in northern Europe. He is generally considered one of the best European painters and etchers, and he is certainly the most important Dutch artist in history. His contributions towards art came during the period of great wealth called the Dutch Golden Age. Achieving much success during his early years in the art world, the later part of Rembrandt's life was filled with turmoil and sickness. Yet his paintings and etchings were popular throughout his life time and are priceless today. Much of his work revolves around biblical scenes, self portraits, and landscapes from the North. Throughout his career, Rembrandt used portraiture, landscape and narrative painting as his main themes. For the latter of the three, he was praised by his contemporaries, who called him a master of biblical paintings for his skill in representing emotions and attention to detail. Stylistically, his paintings progressed from the early "smooth" manner, characterized by fine technique in the portrayal of illusionistic form, to the late "rough" treatment of richly variegated paint surfaces, which allowed for an illusionism of form suggested by the tactile quality of the paint itself. A parallel development may be seen in Rembrandt's skill as a printmaker. In the etchings of his maturity, particularly from the late 1640s onward, the freedom and breadth of his drawings and paintings found expression in the print medium as well. The works encompass a wide range of subject matter and technique, sometimes leaving large areas of white paper to suggest space, at other times employing complex webs of line to produce rich dark tones. It was during Rembrandt's Leiden period (1625–1631) that Lastman's influence was frequently seen. It is also likely that at this time Lievens had a strong impact on his work as well. Paintings were rather small, but rich in details (for example, in costumes and jewelry). Religious and allegorical themes were favored. In 1626 Rembrandt produced his first etchings, a majority of which would account for much of his international fame. In 1629 he completed //Judas Repentant, Returning the Pieces of Silver// and //The Artist in His Studio//, works that show his interest in tenebrism and a variety of paint application processes, and are the first major progress in his development as a painter. During his early years in Amsterdam (1632–1636), Rembrandt began to paint dramatic biblical and mythological scenes in high contrast and of large format (//The Blinding of Samson//, 1636, //Belshazzar's Feast//, c. 1635 Danae, 1636), seeking to emulate the baroque style of Rubens. With the occasional help of assistants in Uylenburgh's workshop, he painted numerous portrait commissions both small and large. By the late 1630s Rembrandt had produced a few paintings and many etchings of. Often these landscapes highlighted natural drama, featuring uprooted trees and ominous skies. From 1640 his work became less exuberant and more sober in tone, possibly reflecting personal tragedy. Biblical scenes were now derived more often from the New Testament than the Old Testament, as had been the case before. In 1642 he painted //The Night Watch//, the most notable of the important group portrait commissions which he received in this period, and through which he sought to find solutions to composition and narrative problems that had been attempted in previous works. In the decade following the //Night Watch//, Rembrandt's paintings varied greatly in size, subject, and style. The previous tendency to create dramatic effects primarily by strong contrasts of light and shadow gave way to the use of frontal lighting and larger and more saturated areas of color. Simultaneously, figures came to be placed parallel to the picture plane. These changes can be seen as a move toward a classical mode of composition and, considering the more expressive use of brushwork as well, may indicate a familiarity with Venetian art. At the same time, there was a marked decrease in painted works in favor of etchings and drawings of landscapes. In these graphic works natural drama eventually made way for quiet Dutch rural scenes. In the 1650s, Rembrandt's style changed again. Colors became richer and brush strokes more pronounced. With these changes, Rembrandt distanced himself from earlier work and current fashion, which increasingly inclined toward fine, detailed works. His singular approach to paint application may have been suggested in part by familiarity with the work of Titian, and could be seen in the context of the then current discussion of 'finish' and surface quality of paintings. Contemporary accounts sometimes remark disapprovingly of the coarseness of Rembrandt's brushwork, and the artist himself was said to have dissuaded visitors from looking too closely at his paintings. The tactile manipulation of paint may hearken to medieval procedures, when mimetic effects of rendering informed a painting's surface. The end result is a richly varied handling of paint, deeply layered and often apparently haphazard, which suggests form and space in both an illusory and highly individual manner. In later years biblical themes were still depicted often, but emphasis shifted from dramatic group scenes to intimate portrait-like figures (//James the Apostle//, 1661). In his last years, Rembrandt painted his most deeply reflective self-portraits (from 1652 to 1669 he painted fifteen), and several moving images of both men and women in love, in life, and before God.