The past month of June 2006 marks the 400th year of Rembrandt's art.
At the time the Netherlands had been a super-power and England had been in a state of revolution, but in the short period between 1606 and 1669, Rembrandt produced an estimated 600 paintings with their often biblical and dramatic scenes and strong tones, along with an additional 200 etchings and 2000 drawings.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn had been born in the year of 1606, though even this is the source of some speculation, in Leiden in the Netherlands. His father, a miller, could afford a comfortable living and so Rembrandt was sent to the University of Leiden. Although having attended the University he soon became bored, Rembrandt had left in order to become a painter. Though it wouldn't be long before Rembrandt would be taking on students of his own, including that of Gerrit Dou, whose own artistic style is similar to that of his master, as both heavily made use of chiaroscuro.
By the 1630's Rembrandt was becoming an artist of some fame and his religious paintings (such as "The Binding of Samson") were in quite some demand. His own studio was successful and he became one of the countries leading painters, specifically of potraits. The sheer amount of self-potraits he amassed during his career is testament alone to this. Upon moving to Amsterdam, Rembrandt soon married Saskia Van Uylenburgh who would later sit as the model for many of his paintings.
In the coming years three of four children died in their infancy and then later his wife was to suffer the same fate and it was later, in the 1640's he would paint one of his most famous paintings "The Night Watch", which currently resides in the Rijksmuseum in Amterday, along with a collection of his other works. Though following this Rembrandt was to reach an all-time low. He received fewer and fewer comissions for new work and he was soon living beyond his means, which led to him losing his home.
It was in 1649 that Rembrandt took upon himself a mistress who was twenty years his junior, to whom he fathered another child to Hendrikje Stoffels who had once been his maid. They later had a daughter named Cornelia even though they had never married. Perhaps this is because the terms of his first wife's will stated that he would lose most of his inheritance were he ever to take another wife. However, Cornelia would be the only child to outlive the now aging artist.
Though his financial troubles had not hampered his art, in fact he continued. Some of these more famous works, such as Basthesba, currently reside in the Louvre in Paris (click here to read about the Louvre).
To this day, Rembrandt remains one of the artistic greats of all time along with other artistic geniuses such as Rubens and Da Vinci, with his work closely resembling and imitating the work of the old Italian Renaissance masters.
The year 2006 marks 400 years of Rembrandt's art. Want more information about Rembrandt? Then check out the links below!
Links
Rijksmuseum AmsterdamThe Louvre
Biography wrote by Dmitri (CL6)
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