Rembrandt

 

Rembrandt Van Rijn was a Dutch artist and one of the most accomplished European painter, printer and etcher in the 17^th century. He lived during the Dutch Golden Age which began when Dutch launched the Dutch Age of Exploration and formed many colonies around the world. The wealth from these colonies ushered a new era of art and culture in Dutch.

 

Rembrandt was most notably known for his extraordinary skill in not one but many genres. Rembrandt was specialized in a specific art style; Dutch Baroque style of painting. In this style, he produced some of the best art pieces in the whole world.

 

Rembrandt improved a lot and his paintings evolved much with the passage of time. He continuously learned from other great artists and then improved his work and style. As he kept doing on painting and art work, his paintings got more mature and deep in his later years. Another important thing about Rembrandt’s paintings is that he preferred realism over any form of idealism. As a result, his paintings are able to depict people and other scenes with great reality.

 

An interesting thing about him is that he had many self portrayed paintings. Rembrandt painted a large number of self-portraits throughout his life. And these portraits show his transformation from a young boy to a young man and then through his later life towards his old age. In a way, Rembrandt had created his own self-biography in the form of paintings all of which exist today as well. It is quite fascinating to see his journey through the years in his own paintings.

 

 

A main topic and theme of his paintings was historical, biblical and mythological. He started his career as an artist by producing biblical themes in his paintings. He also painted mythological scenes such as the abduction of Europe by Zeus in the form of white bull.

 

Although the largest portion of his art is in the form of paintings, he was a marvelous etcher and mainly used natural landscapes as his etching theme.

 

Rembrandt became successful and popular because of his skill as an artist at a young age. He was also an art collector and dealer. During his life, few of his original art pieces were known outside of the Dutch Republic. But the rest of the Europe had access to the copies of his art and on the basis of these, regarded him as a great artist.

 

Unfortunately, he faced financial troubles towards the end of his life. He continued to educate apprentices until his death and when he died, he had no money. It was much later that Rembrandt’s painting became a rare and highly sought-after art.

 

 

Rembrandt was the archetypal post-Renaissance artists. He came from a humble background, worked diligently throughout his life, fervently believed in realism in art and did not become rich using his career.