¶ … artists known by only one name; Rembrandt is one of them. The Dutch artist's canon of work is extraordinary and includes etchings, self-portraits, portraits commissioned by wealthy patrons, and grand scale religious and historical allegories. Rembrandt's legacy is seen in the work of all subsequent art in the Netherlands and indeed throughout Central Europe. Rembrandt's painting style was characterized in part by his use of light and chiaroscuro, leading to an almost photographic sense of realistic lighting. Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn enjoyed fame and fortune throughout his career, which was distinguished by his commitment to a realistic rendition of light and shadow.

Artist's Background

On July 15, 1606, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden, in the Netherlands. He was the ninth born to a family of ten children. His father was a textile miller. Rembrandt attended Latin school and the University of Leiden, but dropped out to study art full time between 1620 to about 1625. He had two different art teachers, Leiden-based Jacob van Swanenburgh, who taught Rembrandt his basic skills as well as how to "paint fire and the way its light reflects on surrounding objects," ("Rembrandt: Biography"). Rembrandt's second teacher was Pieter Lastman, a famous and well-respected Amsterdam-based artist who specialized in historical and Biblical depictions.

In 1625, Rembrandt returned to Leiden. After only six months of tutelage under Lastman and only 22 years of age, Rembrandt had developed significant enough skills to start teaching art as well as producing it. One of his early students in his Leiden studio went on to have a notable career, too: Gerrit Dou. Rembrandt established a studio in Leiden, but returned to Amsterdam in 1631, where he would remain until his death in 1669.

In 1634, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the niece of his business partner. A year later, Rembrandt and Saskia moved into their first house but by 1639, Rembrandt's art business had become well established in Amsterdam and he purchased a larger and more "prominent" family house on Sint-Antonisbreestraat near the Jodenbreestraat, where he also set up a studio. Rembrandt and Saskia originally had four children but three died. In 1642, Saskia died, too, leaving Rembrandt with one son by her, Titus. Rembrandt later became involved with one of his maids, Hendrickje Stoffels, with whom he had another child in 1654, a daughter named Cornelia. In 1660, Rembrandt could no longer afford to live in the large family home and moved to a smaller abode among the artists' community in the Jordaan. Rembrandt outlived not only Saskia, but also Hendrickje and Titus.

Part of the reason for Rembrandt's inability to remain in the family home he had purchased with Saskia was mismanagement of the earnings he was making with his art. An astute businessman, Rembrandt managed to continually market his work throughout his career in spite of vicissitudes in the market. However, Rembrandt also had a "penchant for ostentatious living," and made a series of poor investments that "forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656," ("Rembrandt van Rijn: Biography and Chronology").

Career

By 1626, Rembrandt had also begun producing etchings. He would go on to make over 300 during his career, even though etching is "not a natural counterpart to painting," (van de Wetering). Rembrandt's collection of etchings would become crucial for the spread of Rembrandt's name and fame, as he "endowed them with a painterly quality achieved through suggestive handling of light and dark," ("Rembrandt: Biography"). According to van de Wetering, Rembrandt's skill in etchings was "self-taught."

The actual paintings Rembrandt produced in the Leiden studio were small in scale but "rich in detail" with religious and historical motifs ("Rembrandt: Biography"). Also while in Leiden, Rembrandt produced paintings that were rich with chiaroscuro including Peter and Paul Disputing (1628), Judas Repentant (1629) and Returning the Pieces of Silver (1629). In 1629, a politician named Constantijn Huygens discovered Rembrandt's work and started to bring the artist numerous lucrative commissions from other politicians and their families in the Hague ("Rembrandt: The Complete Works"). These connections helped solidify Rembrandt's reputation as a portrait painter.

The foundation of his career laid during his years in Leiden and in his own studio and workshop, Rembrandt then decided to develop a stronger business model for his work. In about 1631, Rembrandt partnered with an Amsterdam-based art dealer named Hendrick van Uylenburgh, establishing a "joint business venture," and one that filled a growing niche in the Dutch market for portraits and history paintings, particularly those rendered by Dutch artists (The J. Paul Getty Museum). Rembrandt and van Uylenburgh did boomingly well in their business, and as a result, "Rembrandt immediately became the...

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After living in Amsterdam for a number of years, Rembrandt was able to join the Amsterdam painters' guild and became an active member of the community. Rembrandt also continued teaching art. Some of his students at the van Uylenburgh studio included Jacob Backer, Govaert Flinck and Ferdinand Bol. Over the course of his career, Rembrandt is thought to have had about fifty different pupils ("Rembrandt: Biography"). This stage in Rembrandt's early established career is known as the First Amsterdam Period.

Unlike the smaller paintings he produced in Leiden, while in Amsterdam, his canvases grew in size and scope. He delved into religious imagery, too. In 1636, he painted The Blinding of Samson, as well as Danae, both of which contain rich chiaroscuro as well as references to mythology and ancient religion. By this time, Rembrandt's business acumen had fully blossomed. For example, he "successfully controlled the availability of his own etched and engraved works, actively working to create market demand for them," (The J. Paul Getty Museum). However, it is not just chiaroscuro that made Rembrandt's work unique. His portraits were much "livelier" than others on the market, and Rembrandt also used a different portrait technique than was common then, minimizing any detail that would detract from the subject and instead drawing the eye "primarily to the face," (van de Wetering). Rembrandt's fame in the field of portraiture was also due in part to his skill in rendering human skin realistically (van de Wetering). Interestingly, some of his contemporaries criticized Rembrandt's "ability to capture the likeness of his subject," pointing out, for example, that his own self-portrait 'contained noticeable physiognomic differences from one image to the next," ("Rembrandt: Biography"). Whatever quirks viewers found in Rembrandt's portraits did not in any way detract from their popularity or that of the artist.

According to the J. Paul Getty Museum, "by the late 1640s, declining portrait commissions and disastrous speculative investments created financial strain on the artist." It was at this stage in his career, when he was forced to liquefy almost all of his assets and declare bankruptcy, Rembrandt would return to core religious imagery in his work. "In his later years, Rembrandt created works of great psychological complexity and monumentality," (J. Paul Getty Museum).

Lifetime

The Dutch economy in the 17th century boomed, as the Age of Exploration offered Dutch merchants the opportunity to trade on the global market. Rembrandt had in fact amassed his own collection of international art and cultural objects, acquired via Dutch traders. The prosperity in the Netherlands fueled the art market, allowing Rembrandt to continue painting throughout his career. Had he not mismanaged his own finances, Rembrandt would have remained wealthy his entire life; as it was, he painted professionally until his death. Market tastes in paintings changed during the course of the artist's life, but did not have an appreciable change on Rembrandt's painting style or approach. "His vigorous, broad brushwork and glowing palette was at variance with the prevailing taste in the Netherlands for a smooth, elegant, courtly manner of painting," according to the J. Paul Getty Museum. Nevertheless, Rembrandt continued receiving lucrative commissions from domestic and international patrons and collectors and he remained famous throughout his career (J. Paul Getty Museum).

Influences

Because Rembrandt's style diverged radically from his predecessors anywhere in Europe, Rembrandt left more of an influence on others than he was influenced by other artists. However, prominent Renaissance Italian artists including Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio had strong impacts on Rembrandt's own work. Both his teachers, Jacob van Swanenburgh and Pieter Lastman were Rembrandt's first real influences. Jacob can Swanenburgh depicted scenes of hell including its symbolic fires, and he helped Rembrandt develop an appreciation for rendering light in his characteristically deft manner. Rembrandt's second teacher Pieter Lastman taught Rembrandt how to evolve a "colorful palette and eloquent narrative approach" to his work ("Rembrandt: Biography"). When Rembrandt had returned to Leiden in 1625 after studying under Lastman, he began applying what he had learned by "deconstructing his former master's compositions and reassembling them into his own," ("Rembrandt: Biography"). As Darwent notes, Rembrandt's sphere of influence in the painterly world extended from Francis Bacon to Fragonard.

Conclusion

Rembrandt's painting style left an indelible mark on art history, particularly in the areas of etching, portraiture, histories, and religious allegories. Rembrandt's work is dramatic…