The early paintings, those done in the 1620s, are done in a very lifelike manner. This self-portrait, also called Self-Portrait With Dishevelled Hair, is one of Rembrandt's first and is an exercise in chiaroscuro, the extreme use of light and shadow, of which Rembrandt was known as a master. Heritage Images / Contributor / Getty Images. Of the many self-portraits Rembrandt painted over a lifetime, this is perhaps the greatest, not only for its poignant revelations of the self, but for his sure handling of paint. ISBN 978-1-4020-4607-0. Rembrandt's self-portraits lend credence to the adage that "what is most personal is most universal," for they continue to speak powerfully to viewers across time and space, inviting us not only to look closely at his self-portraits, but at ourselves as well. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. While Rembrandt's self-portraits reveal much about the artist, his development, and his persona, they were also painted to fulfill the high market demand during the Dutch Golden Age for tronies — studies of the head, or head and shoulders, of a model showing an exaggerated facial expression or emotion, or dressed in exotic costumes. Rembrandt painted this self-portrait in 1659, when he had suffered financial failure after many years of success. The self-portrait portrays Rembrandt in middle age enjoying a successful career, but also having endured life's hardships. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Self-Portrait as a Young Man, 1628, Oil on Board, 22.5 X 18.6 cm, Print Collector/Hulton Fine Art/Getty Images, The Universality of Rembrandt's Self-Portraits, Top 12 Greatest Visual Artists of All Time, Defining Portraits and Portraiture in Art, Biography of Edgar Degas, Influential French Impressionist, Women Artists of the Sixteenth Century: Renaissance and Baroque, Biography of Egon Schiele, Austrian Expressionist Painter. Selbstbildnis, 1659, Öl auf Leinwand, 84,5 x 66 cm. The portraits can be divided into three stages — young, middle-age, and older age — progressing from a questioning uncertain young man focused on his outward appearance and description, through a confident, successful, and even ostentatious painter of middle-age, to the more insightful, contemplative, and penetrating portraits of older age. Centre national des arts plastiques. The dimensions are 31 5/8 x 26 1/2 in. Rembrandt's paintings are remarkable for their accuracy and lifelike quality. This painting is interesting because Rembrandt chose to conceal his character in this self-portrait through the use of chiaroscuro. In fact, in this painting — through pose, attire, expression, and lighting that accents Rembrandt's left shoulder and hands — Rembrandt was emulating a painting by Raphael, a famous classical painter he admired, thereby aligning himself with him and casting himself also as a learned and esteemed painter. 2020 - Découvrez le tableau "Rembrandt: Auto-portrait" de moskov MSK sur Pinterest. He produced more etchings until the 1630s, and then more paintings after that time, including the year he died, although he continued both forms of art all his life, continuing to experiment with technique throughout his career. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings VI: Rembrandt’s Paintings Revisited – A Complete Survey. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Er stellt sich selbst als selbstbewusst und weise dar und ist in einer Kleidung gekleidet, die Reichtum und Wohlbefinden impliziert. These self-portraits, produced fairly consistently throughout his life, when looked at together as an oeuvre, create a fascinating visual diary of the artist over his lifetime. 10 Famous Left-Handed Artists: Chance or Destiny? Selbstbildnis, 1659, Öl auf Leinwand, 84,5 x 66 cm. Also, infrared reflectography done in 1998 showed that there was an underpainting in the Mauritshuis version which was not typical of Rembrandt's approach to his work. Quelques réalisations d'élèves. Selbstbildnis, 1659 . ISBN 978-9 … In this portrait of 1659 Rembrandt stares penetratingly, unflinchingly at the viewer, having lived a life of success followed by failure. Er stellt sich selbst als selbstbewusst und weise dar und ist in einer Kleidung gekleidet, die Reichtum und Wohlbefinden impliziert. Springer. These self-portraits included 80 to 90 paintings, drawings, and etchings done over approximately 30 years beginning in the 1620s until the year he died. The middle years of the 1630s and1640s show Rembrandt feeling confident and successful, dressed up in some portraits, and posed similarly to some of the classical painters, like Titian and Raphael, whom he greatly admired. Research Paper About 1660 Rembrandt' Self Portrait, No artist has left a loftier or more penetrating personal testament than Rembrandt van Rijn. This pigment analysis is based on the work of Herrmann Kühn at the Doerner Institute (1). So much so that recent analysis suggests that he used mirrors and projections to trace his image accurately and to capture the range of expressions found in his tronies. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings V (The Small-Scale History Paintings). Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (/ ˈ r ɛ m b r ɑː n t /, also /-b r æ n t /, Dutch: [ˈrɛmbrɑnt ˈɦɑrmə(n)soːn vɑn ˈrɛin] ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. Because there are so many that can be viewed together and compared with each other, viewers have a unique insight into the life, character, and psychological development of the man and the artist, a perspective of which the artist was profoundly aware and that he intentionally gave the viewer, as though a more thoughtful and studied precursor to the modern selfie. However it is important not to overly romanticize this painting, for indeed, some of the somber quality of the painting was actually due to thick layers of discolored varnish which, when removed, changed the character of the painting, making Rembrandt look more vibrant and vigorous. Lisa Marder is an artist and educator who studied drawing and painting at Harvard University. Springer. 9 janv. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 to 1669) was a Dutch baroque painter, draughtsman, and printmaker who was not only one of the greatest artists of all time, but created the most self-portraits of any other known artist. His spacious house on the Sint-Anthoniesbreestraat and other possessions had been auctioned the previous year to satisfy his creditors. Although self-portraiture became common during the 17th century, with most artists doing a few self-portraits during their careers, none did as many as Rembrandt. The wide dissemination of these and other prints was important in establishing Rembrandt’s reputation as an artist.4 “Self-portrait, by Rembrandt van Rijn” Self-portrait (Metropolitan Museum of Art 14.40.618) is a complex outburst of emotions painting by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1660. Self-portraits of well-known artists were also popular with consumers of the time, who included not just nobility, the church, and the wealthy, but people from all different classes. Autel Chases, installation de Christian Boltanski, 1988. The 1650s and 1660s show Rembrandt unabashedly delving into the realities of aging, using thick impasto paint in a looser, rougher manner. It is hard not to read into this painting what was Rembrandt's state of mind at the time. In fact, according to the National Gallery description. (80.3 x 67.3 cm) and the medium is oil on canvas. 2010. His "self-assurance is reinforced by his steady gaze and comfortable pose," a pose that again asserts his "rightful place as one of the most sought-after artists" of the time. This painting is normally at the National Gallery in London. 2014. self-assurance is reinforced by his steady gaze and comfortable pose, Self-Portrait, 1659, Oil on Canvas, 84.5 X 66 cm, National Gallery of Art, https://www.nga.gov/Collection/art-object-page.79.pdf, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rembrandt-van-Rijn/The-Leiden-period-1625-31, https://www.livescience.com/55616-rembrandt-optical-tricks-self-portraits.html, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/holland/v/rembrandt-nga-self-portrait. In more than 90 portraits of himself that date from the outset of his career in the 1620s to the year of his death in 1669, he created an autobiography in art that is the equal of the finest ever produced in literature even of the intimately analytical Confessions of St. Augustine.1. The art buying public which now included people from many walks of life, not only aristocratic or clerical patrons, as in the past went for etchings of famous people, including artists. Born in 1606, Rembrandt was a prolific painter, draftsman and printmaker who made a mark in the visual arts that would endure throughout the centuries to come.