Greatest Artists

Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at 11:40 am

Rembrandt van Rijn - greatest artist of Holland € ™ s Golden Age

Rembrandt was born in Leiden, the Netherlands, the fifth son of a miller. Despite coming from a relatively modest family, his parents attached great importance to education, and Rembrandt began his studies at the American School. At the age of 14 years, he enrolled at the University of Leiden. But the program did not interest him, and soon went to study art € "first, a three-year apprenticeship with a local master, Jacob van Swanenburgh and then in Amsterdam, with Pieter Lastman, a local teacher known for his historical paintings.

Under Lastmanâ € ™ s registration, Rembrandt became exposed to works by Caravaggio and the Italian masters. His interest in religious and mythological themes were more likely a result of Lastmanâ € ™ s influence. After six months, having mastered everything he had learned, Rembrandt returned to Leiden, where he soon was so appreciated that although just 22, took his first disciples.

In 1631 Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and settled there permanently. It became a leading portraitist and received many commissions for portraits as well as for paintings of religious subjects. His works are characterized by their mastery of chiaroscuro â € "theatrical use of light and shadow. He used exuberant brushstrokes and rich colors, flesh tones, generous and a lively presentation of subjects who lacked of formality favored by his contemporaries.

Of all the Baroque masters, Rembrandt was the one who developed the revolutionary technique. In mid- the 1630s had left the Netherlands and conventional smooth surfaces were covered with paint. The Venetians who learned to use a brown soil but despite a palette that was limited, even by the standards of the 17th century, was known as a colorist, which combines light and dark shades of vibrant colors.

In 1634 Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburg, the beautiful cousin of a successful art dealer and the model for many of his paintings. He was, by then, a rich citizen, respected, and in 1639 bought a large house (now the Rembrandt House Museum) in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam. This was the period when he painted such masterpieces as â € € œThe Blinding of Samson, and his most famous painting â € œThe Night Watcha €, a group portrait of one of the cityâ € ™ s militia companies. His studio was filled with students.

Rembrandt € ™ s family life but was not as successful. Saskia died in 1642, a year after the birth of their son, Tito. His affections turned to his housekeeper, Hendrickje Stoffels, who modeled for him and gave him a daughter. And despite of its financial success, Rembrandt lived expensive, and was declared bankrupt in 1656. He was forced to sell most of his paintings and his house and printing. Finally, opened an art store with Hendrickje and Titus.

Rembrandt € ™ s new poverty had little effect on the quality of his work however, even if they did increasingly bleak. Some of the great paintings from this period are â € œThe Jewish Brideâ €, â € œBathshebaâ €, and â € œJacob bless the children of Joseph €.

Rembrandt outlived both Hendrickje and his son, and was buried in an unmarked grave near Amsterdam, in 1669.

You can find a large collection of Rembrandt painting by number of patterns in Segmation website. Â These patterns can be seen, painted, and printed using SegPlayâ "PC ¢ a fun, computerized paint-by-numbers program for Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

About the Author

Mark Feldman is President of
SegTech, a company devoted to a wonderful Image Segmentation technology called Segmation.

Segmation - The Art of Pieceful Imaging

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