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Rembrandt Gallery |
The Return of the Prodigal Son
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Return of the Prodigal Son I
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Storm on the Sea of Galilee I
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Enter Gallery
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Gallery Description
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn – (1606-1669)
Rembrandt is a famous 17th Century Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. He was and is the greatest artist of the Dutch school and a giant name in the history of art. He is a master of light and shadow and his paintings are characterized by luxuriant brushwork, rich colour, and a mastery of chiaroscuro.
From the beginnig he was drawn towards painting and left his studies to pursue his passion. He was greatly influenced by the works of Italian painters. His early works were devoted to showing the lines, light and shade, and color of the people he saw about him. At times when he did not have any models, he would paint himself. There are about 50-60 self-potraits of his today.
Rembrandt’s works’, characterized by strong lighting effects, became well known and by 1631 his studio in Leiden was flourishing. He soon became the leading portrait painter in Holland and received many commissions for portraits as well as for paintings of religious subjects. In addition to portraits, Rembrandt attained fame for his landscapes. His landscape paintings are imaginative, rich portrayals of the land around him. As an etcher he ranks among the foremost of all time. In the latter half of his reign as a painter, he began to depict quieter, more contemplative scenes with a new warmth in colors used.
The most popular of his work The Night Watch, is probably the most inventive of his work’s. It depicts a group of city guardsmen awaiting the command to fall in line. Each man is painted with the care that Rembrandt gave to single portraits, yet the composition is such that the separate figures are second in interest to the effect of the whole. The canvas is brilliant in color, movement, and light. In the foreground are two men, one in bright yellow, the other in black. The shadow of one color tones down the lightness of the other. In the center of the painting is a little girl dressed in yellow.
Rembrandt stayed in touch with art through out his life, as an established painter and then as an art teacher. For today's student of art, Rembrandt remains, the true type of artist, free, untrammeled by traditions.
Rembrandt has produced approximately 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 1,400 drawings. Check out our gallery of Rembrandt Paintings.
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Monday, September, 8 th
2008
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