A glimpse of the ART world, in the manner of an alphabetical mini-art tour. This artist hails from the 1600s, from the land of windmills. Famous enough to be known by one name, he is a painter and an etcher, considered one of our greatest artists in depicting light and shadow.
He looked into the soul of his subjects to paint his perceptive portraits. His name is Rembrandt.
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| Self-Portrait, Rembrandt, Dutch painter, 1659, PD*-WC |
R = Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijin
1606 - 1669
Rembrandt lived and painted during the Dutch Golden Age, an especially prolific and innovative time in Dutch history. During his lifetime, his etchings and paintings were popular and sold well. For twenty years, he taught many important Dutch painters.
'In his portraits and self-portraits, he angles the sitter's face in such a way that the ridge of the nose nearly always forms the line of demarcation between brightly illuminated and shadowy areas.' (wiki)
'A Rembrandt face is a face partially eclipsed; and the nose, bright and obvious, thrusting into the riddle of halftones, serves to focus the viewer's attention upon, and to dramatize, the division between a flood of light—an overwhelming clarity—and a brooding duskiness.' (wiki)
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And then, there was Saskia van Uylenburgh, pictured below, wife of the artist. She was his model for some of his paintings, drawings and etchings. Saskia was from a patrician family, but being of independent spirit, she married the romantic artist. She became 'immortal' through art.
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| Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, c. 1635, Rembrandt |
Rembrandt achieved success in his youth, but his later years were full of financial hardship and personal tragedy. He lost both his sons before he himself passed on. He died within a year of the last son, on October 4, 1669 in Amsterdam, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Westerkerk.
The portraits of himself, his family and Dutch life form a biography of the artist and the man. Rembrandt portrayed himself, his wife and contemporaries over four centuries ago, leaving a legacy of life in the 1600s, for those of us who came after.
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The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch (Night Watch)
An example of a painting commemorating an event or notable persons.
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| The Night Watch, 1642, Rembrandt, PD*WC |
The Night Watch, 1642: (short version of name)
The composition, the lighting and staging direct the eye to the two main figures in the image above. The details in this painting are meant to be seen up close, so check the link if you're interested.
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Do you like Rembrandt's painting style? Doesn't Saskia look like a gentle soul? Have you seen any of Rembrandt's paintings in a gallery?
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here, and thanks for dropping by! I will respond.
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Brought to you by the A to Z Blog Challenge 2014 Team and the originator: Lee of Tossing it Out. Click the A to Z list of participants and read on. Hope to see you again throughout the blogfest.
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References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt Wiki on the Artist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Nightwatch_by_Rembrandt.jpg The Nightwatch, painting by Rembrandt
Images
Image of Rembrandt, a Self-Portrait:
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain in its source country for the following reason:
This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.
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Saskia van Uylenburgh, the Wife of the Artist
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain in its source country for the following reason:
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.
This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less
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The Nightwatch
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain.
This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.
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