Word: rembrandt
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Restlessly attempting to improve his work, Rembrandt would add or remove lines from the copper plate with which he printed. According to the catalogue, alteration of this plate constitutes a change of "state" in the print. But within each state the artist experimented with ink and paper tone. Rembrandt often printed an image on particularly dark or absorbent paper to soften the black lines. Sometimes by wiping the ink off the plate before printing, he let light from the surface of the paper glow through the network of lines. Intricate juxtaposition of black and white makes the billowing robe...
...various versions of one portrait. Rembrandt explored the complexity of his character. He drew his friends: a lawyer, a merchant and Clement de Jonghe, a print seller from Amsterdam. All editions of the portrait of de Jonghe have the same skeletal composition. His strong body is buttoned into a jacket and surrounded by a cape. He sits leaning on the arm of a straight-backed chair, gloved hands resting in front of him. He carries a large-brimmed hat as though it were part of his head...
...FIRST state of the print is a general statement. But in the second state Rembrandt refined the face, darkening the curve of the lips, and enunciating the cheek. One eye, large and black, opens in a tentative expression. The other one tightens in its scrutiny of the viewer. Rembrandt again blurred the features in a third state. Now the eyes are of equal size. And an arch scratched in at the top of the page brings de Jonghe forward. Finally Rembrandt cut deep shadows into the cape grabbing the focus away from the face. And the print seller becomes...
...miniscule changes in de Jonghe's facial expression suggest conflicting thoughts. Does the sitter look different because his mood changed each time he posed for Rembrandt, or did Rembrandt merely illustrate a different aspect of his nature? Or is it the artist's own opinion of de Jonghe that develops through the changing states? The prints spin out the shifting relationship between artists and sitter. Beyond this the progression suggests that changes within the viewer himself will make a print appear different each time he approaches...
...biblical scenes, though born in the artist's imagination, are as alive as the portraits. Filled with bunched bodies and old faces these master pieces appeal even to the skeptical modern eye. Concentrating on the crowd, some doubting, some frightened, some barely paying attention, Rembrandt depicted how ordinary people react to Christ in the course of day-to-day existence. The warmth emanating from Christ incorporates itself in details among people, in a calm face or one hand leading another...