Rembrandt is called one of the greatest Dutch painters and an outstanding engraver. In his paintings, you can see emotionally saturated human experiences. Before Rembrandt, no one could accurately convey the characters of people on canvas.
Best paintings
While working on "The Exaltation of the Cross", "The Prophet Jeremiah", "The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard" and "Flora" Rembrandt lived in a large and beautiful house, his paintings were a success, he was a rich man.
Rembrandt was recognized as an outstanding master after the group portrait "Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp". On this canvas, his experiments with chiaroscuro and rich facial expressions of the human face found their ideal embodiment.
Working on the four-meter "Night Watch", the artist changed Dutch portrait painting forever and became a harbinger of artistic finds of the 19th century, when realism and impressionism were in fashion. In the famous painting you see the movement of the heroes. Some of them are in the background, which angered the shooters who paid Rembrandt to create his group portrait.
In the 1640s-1660s, the artist painted "Bathsheba", "The Holy Family", "Danae" and other famous paintings. At this time, he was already known as a talented draftsman, graphic artist and etcher.
The golden fund of fine art includes his works of this period:
- "Mill";
- "The girl at the window";
- "Christ healing the sick";
- "Blind Tobias".
On the portraits created at this time by Rembrandt, ordinary people with their pronounced characters appeared. In the last years of his life, the artist worked on paintings that stood out with sublime content and deep humanity. First of all, we are talking about the "Family Portrait", "The Abdication of the Apostle Peter", "Artaxerxes, Haman and Esther".
Rembrandt made good money on etchings, for the creation of which he used a dry needle, a dynamic stroke and a filigree "puff". Until the end of the 19th century, the Rembrandt tradition of etching technique was used everywhere.
The peak of the outstanding Dutch painter's skill is called the painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son". It depicts a young man being tenderly embraced by an old father. By the worn-out shoes and the pathetic rags of the prodigal son, one can understand how much grief and troubles he has experienced. The father mercifully and forgivingly hugs him to himself. This painting can be called Rembrandt's testament. Through her, he conveys the message of the need to live in love for each other and forgiveness of lost souls.
Interesting facts about Rembrandt's life
The artist did not live up to his father's hopes
The homeland of Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn is Holland, where he was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, in the family of a wealthy miller who dreamed that his youngest son would choose the path of a scientist, a philosopher, would study at Leiden University. But Rembrandt liked painting more, which is what he did in Amsterdam.
Dead monkey
The artist often had a difficult relationship with customers. Once he worked on a portrait of a married couple with children and a small puny monkey. In one session, the animal died. Rembrandt left an image of his corpse on a group portrait of the family, which the painting's customers did not like. They demanded to depict them without this unpleasant detail, but the artist did not want to change anything. Then customers began to find fault with him, noting the excessive roughness of the canvas. The master uttered his catch phrase: "I'm an artist, not a bootblack!".
Unpretentious life
The foremost scoffer Rembrandt treated everything with contempt. He wore old-fashioned dresses and suits that junk dealers sold him. The artist covered the entire studio with these rags, where he also kept jewelry and collectible weapons.
Personal tragedies
Rembrandt loved his beautiful wife Saskia, who gave birth to his son Titus. She died during the next birth.
The artist quarreled with all the customers and stopped taking students. He was besieged by creditors. He had to pay off his debts after selling his house, property, collections of weapons and paintings.
Rembrandt buried his own son Titus and the maid Hendrikje Stoffels, with whom he became close.
One day, the artist hosted his successful student at home. He drew a few gold coins on the floor. Poor-sighted Rembrandt wanted to raise them. This mocking blow was one of the reasons for his sudden death in 1669.
Important information!
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