Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Rembrandt Harmenz van Rijn)

(1606-1669)
Born in Leiden, 15 July 1606 in the family prosperous miller. In 1620 entered the University of Leiden, but stayed there for long and soon became a student of a local artist Jacob Isaacs Svanenbyurha. Around 1623 he moved to Amsterdam, where he entered the workshop of Jan Peynasa, studying with masters of historical painting Pieter Lastman. The latter introduced the Rembrandt works of the masters of Italian art. From 1625 to 1631, Rembrandt had his own studio in Leiden, sometimes worked with the painter and engraver Jan Livensom. Of the pupils of Rembrandt's best known Gerard Dou.
In 1631 or late 1632 Rembrandt returned to Amsterdam. June 22, 1635 he married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the daughter of a wealthy burgomaster Leyvardena. In 1642, success in work and personal life was replaced by a succession of misfortunes. In the late 1630's had one after the other four children were born, but died in infancy, and then June 14, 1642 died suddenly, and beloved wife. Artist stayed with old son Titus. Painting Night Watch (1642, Amsterdam, Reyksmuzeum), completed shortly after the death of Saskia, marks the beginning of his new creative research.

In the late 1640's became the informal Hendrickje Stoffels Rembrandt's wife (bequest Saskia he could not marry a second time). In 1654 they had a daughter, Cornelia. But now the artist pursued financial difficulties. In July 1656 he was forced to declare bankruptcy, and in the subsequent two years of his remarkable collection was sold. Wanting to help Rembrandt, at the end of 1658 Titus and Hendrickje began to trade pictures.

In recent years, the artist's life were marred by the death of close. July 24, 1663 died Hendrickje. Titus married in February 1668, and died six months later. Now, Rembrandt was left alone with a young Cornelia. Rembrandt died on Oct. 4, 1669.

Rembrandt created nearly 600 paintings, nearly 300 etchings and more than 1400 pictures. The following is a chronological overview of his work.

The early period of creativity Rembrandt should be considered in the context of the influence of Italian art in the Dutch painting. From the Italian masters of the Dutch particularly attracted by Caravaggio, whose works in bold naturalism and contrast of light and shadow Modeling seemed to challenge the classical art. Such artists as Gerard Terbryuggen and Rembrandt's teacher Pieter Lastman worked in the style of Caravaggio, gradually introducing karavadzhizm in the arsenal of artistic means of Dutch painting. Paintings by Rembrandt Leiden period (1625-1631) also belong to this flow. In the picture of me (1627, Berlin) and the scientist in his study (1629, London, National Gallery) have shown interest in the wizard to transfer lighting effects. The first of them shows an old man in spectacles at work, in the corner, piled account books. His wrinkled face lit by the dim light of a single candle, which he covers hand. In the second scene, Rembrandt sought to convey the atmosphere of air-filled interior. The main subject of the image itself is a room with high ceilings, flooded with soft pulsating light.

Throughout his career the artist turned to subjects in which deep life drama is combined with elements of subtle psychological. In the painting Supper at Emmaus (c.. 1630, Paris, Musц?e Jacquemart-Andre) are visible features of Rembrandt's paintings of this period. Rembrandt introduced this episode as a theatrical staging. Silhouette of Christ stands out from the blinding light, blshaya part of the canvas is immersed in the shadow

. Moving to Amsterdam and the subsequent high artistic achievements open a new period in the works of Rembrandt, this decade, . during which the works were created, . imbued with drama and at the same time not devoid of physical sensation, . partly related to the spirit of works by Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish,
. The first major order received by Rembrandt in Amsterdam - the picture's Anatomy Dr. Tyulpa (1632, The Hague, Mauritshuis). It is the image of Amsterdam's famous doctor and his colleagues on the City Guild of Surgeons.

Among the paintings on historical subjects, executed by Rembrandt in 1630-ies, especially the dramatic seems Blinding of Samson (1636, Frankfurt, Stцєdel). Reflections of light, dynamic diagonals and bright colors used in order to heighten the tension of the plot, the picture is filled with a sharp swift movement.

Hedonism and technical virtuosity that characterize the paintings of Rembrandt these years may have found the most vivid expression in the Self-Portrait with Saskia (ca. 1635, Dresden Art Gallery). Here the artist depicted herself dressed in a romantic cavalier; one hand he raises a glass of beer, while the other hugs Saskia, sitting on his lap. The brightness of colors and freedom of stroke fully consistent with the mood of the scene.

By the beginning of 1640's life and artistic activity Rembrandt acquired the stability and the measured. On Self-Portrait 1640 (London, . National Gallery), . created by the work of Raphael and Titian portrayed confident, . reasonable man, . dressed in accordance with the Italian fashion 16., . leaning on the balustrade, his shoulders slightly turned, . eyes turned to the viewer,
.

One of the most famous paintings of this period - Night Watch (1642, Amsterdam, Reyksmuzeum). This work's title - The company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Reytenburga. It was written on the occasion of the visit to Amsterdam, the French queen Marie de Medici and arranged on this occasion a solemn troops out of the city militia. The predominant pattern in the dark background allows you to better distinguish the figures of characters. That is why in 18 in. painting was mistakenly called Night Watch. As Anatomy Dr. Tyulpa, this picture goes beyond the traditional group portrait. It shows 29 characters, of which 16 - real historical persons, their movements and location of the picture are subject to a single common action, developing the eyes of the beholder. Flagpoles, banners and muskets sticking out in different directions, making the composition more free and vibrant, the feeling intensifies the play of light and shadow.

In 1640-ies religious painting by Rembrandt is less rhetorical, it appears humility and deep inner strength, typical of the late master of creativity. Since the Renaissance events of Holy Scripture is usually interpreted in a heroic manner, but their characters were endowed physical beauty. Thou shalt put the Rembrandt differed sharply from that concept; Christ in his work seems humble and meek, humble and obscure among people.

List of one hundred guilders, engraving, which received its name because of the price at which it was sold at one of the first auction devoted to the theme of Christian humility. The figure of Christ does not stand out from the crowd no clothes, no specific situation, but the viewer's attention is turned toward the center of the composition - the countenance of the Savior with his finest coming from the rays of divine light. To the left of him - broken weakness of spirit and flesh, rich and poor, united by misery. The right shows the Pharisees, believe, and immersed in endless disputes. The feet of Christ press themselves young children. In the engraving sheet of one hundred guilders, in the absence of visible actions Rembrandt managed to perfectly convey the miracle of God's presence in the world of people.

Since the early 1650-ies the portraits of Rembrandt are deeply personal, songs - in a rigorous and geometrical construction, and colors - a huge range of shades of three or four colors. Art of Rembrandt no longer reflects the artistic tastes of the public, the artist has now study the properties of oil painting. The world outlook of the wizard, embodied in his later works, so highly valued today, it remains incomprehensible to his contemporaries.

Painting People in gilded helmet (1651, Berlin - Dahlem) of Rembrandt's workshop show features artist's late style. Face gray warrior plunged into a deep soft shadows and reflections of light on the helmet handed free broad thick strokes. For Rembrandt's extraordinary story can sometimes be a cause for daring artistic experimentation. This is the case painting skinned carcass of a bull (1655, Paris, Louvre). Brush life back into dead flesh, and the beauty of ugliness. Rembrandt always avoided the classic idealization in the image of the human body. In this painting, Bathsheba (1654, Paris, Louvre), a woman whom King David saw bathing and fell in love for the extraordinary beauty, is represented not at the time of swimming, so artists have frequently been elected to the story of this history, and not beautiful. It is immersed in deep meditation, as if foreseeing the death of her husband.

In his late works of Rembrandt are increasingly turning to the interpretation of the events of Christian history. Painting Descent from the Cross (ca. 1655, Washington, National Gallery) is dedicated not only Christ's death, but grief and mourned for him.

One of the most famous works of religious painting by Rembrandt that period - a picture of Peter's denial (ca. 1660, Amsterdam, Reyksmuzeum). In the center is shown seeking to Peter, a young maid, and he set aside in a gesture of the hand confirmed his words to renounce Christ. Space foreground lit a candle, only that the servant overshadows his hand, - reception, which was very popular among karavadzhistov at the beginning of the century. Soft light candles simulates the form of figures and objects located in the foreground. They are written in light strokes, in a brownish-yellow color scheme with a few red accents. Sometimes the forms as if dissolved in the light or filled with them, as obstruct the candle hand maid. On the face of Peter is a deep sadness. Here, as in the later portraits and self-portrait, Rembrandt with consummate skill represents old age, with its accumulated wisdom with age, infirmity of the flesh and the spirit of resistance.

Deeply personal become over the years and the portraits of Rembrandt. In the portrait of the poet Jan Six's (1654, Amsterdam, a collection of family Sixx) portrayed depicted in barely noticeable angle from the bottom up, with the exception of finely modeled face, the portrait painted quickly and freely, in broad strokes. In the color scheme is dominated by shiny red cape and gold buttons, dress, contrasting with the various shades of green and gray.

In the portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels (c.. 1656, Berlin - Dahlem) the figure is inscribed in the frame of the window opening and because of the chosen artist of large scale seems worth very close to the picture plane. Look Hendrickje facing the viewer, her posture is free, his head tilted to one side and his hands are very natural. Color scale paintings is the combination of golden, white, red and black colors.

One of the best group of portraits by Rembrandt - Sindica (1661-1662, Amsterdam, Reyksmuzeum). Customers of the portrait were the representatives of the Amsterdam shop draper (syndics). They are represented around the table with him lying on the account books. The artist makes the viewer a party going on in the picture. It seems that we just broke syndics engaged in their calculations, and therefore all of them, as if looking up a moment from his work, looking at the viewer. The painting is dominated by straight lines, but turn the table and the complex play of light soften the severity of songs. Spots of light are scattered around the canvas, animating his pictorial surface. This painting is remarkable both as a psychological study, whose objective - to portray people with different characters, and as a historical document.

Around 1661 Rembrandt was commissioned by one of the eight historical paintings that were supposed to decorate the Amsterdam City Hall. Huge canvas (original size 5? 5 m), Yulia Civilis conspiracy, according to various versions, or has not been posted at the Town Hall, or occupy the place for him no more than two years and then was replaced by the picture of Owens on the same subject. Preserved only a fragment of the work of Rembrandt, which is located in the National Museum in Stockholm. Rembrandt depicted the events described in the annals of the Roman historian Tacitus (1.): Batavian tribal chiefs swear on the sword to fight for liberation from Roman rule. The scale of this work in its original form can be judged by compositional sketches, located in Munich. It shows that the first table and gathered around him men were shown in the space of a huge hall, the depth of which passed through the play of light and shadow.

In 17. picture is usually served as a preliminary outline for the development of great songs, sketches of individual parts of the future picture, or deposited on cardboard, and then transferred to the surface to be painted. Very rare picture was conceived as a complete work of art, often after the project drawings thrown. Each painting by Rembrandt - the study of nature phenomena and attempt to grasp the nature of the moment or the object. When the artist made sketches of works by old masters, he created not a copy, and variations on the same topic, addressing the problem of their own artistic. In 1630-1640-ies he drew, combining lines of different thickness with the thinnest washing. Sometimes his paintings seem to be quick sketches, where the nervous line almost nowhere is continuous.

Rembrandt was the first to realize the rich possibilities of etching as compared with the incisal engraving on metal. This engraving created by scratching a picture on a metal plate, then the plate is covered with paint, filling the left cutter deepening, and print it prints on paper with the press. Cutter requires a strong application, and great caution. Work on etching, by contrast, does not require great physical strength, and the lines are more free and flexible. Instead of scratched metal chisel, the artist covers the plate acid varnish and paints on it with a needle, and then immerses the plate in acid, and pickled in a metal-free varnish field. Etching gives the artist much more freedom, and he can draw with a needle like a pen on paper. In the etchings of Rembrandt line as free and mobile, as in the outline of a feather. To achieve the new expressive effects it is often combined different techniques: sometimes held cutter on board already etched with acid, . sometimes engraved 'dry needle' - a tool with a diamond on the end, . which leaves the metal grooves with indent, . ensures softness and velvety stroke on the print,
. For example, in a sheet of one hundred guilders artist used all these techniques (work on this board continued for several years).

List Evangelism shepherds (1634) - present baroque theatrical act. Drawing heavily posited intersecting strokes that create contrasts of light and dark tones. Five years later, in the Dormition domination densely shaded dark zones changed to a predominance of the light areas and fine parallel hatching. In the etching Three Trees (1643) contrast densely shaded tiles and a white paper brought to the limit; slanted parallel lines on the background of the sky to reproduce the feeling of a summer storm. The most dramatic of Rembrandt's etchings is a sheet of Three Crosses (ca. 1650).