REMBRANDT

born July 15, 1606, Leiden, Neth. died Oct. 4, 1669, Amsterdam in full Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn Dutch painter, draftsman, and etcher of the 17th century, a giant in the history of art. His paintings are characterized by luxuriant brushwork, rich colour, and a mastery of chiaroscuro. Numerous portraits and self-portraits exhibit a profound penetration of character. For most modern observers Rembrandt's art has attained a kind of universal familiarity and popularity. Yet the biblical scenes and the self-portraits that today form the hallmark of his art were by no means typical of Dutch pictures of the 17th century; more commonly, his contemporaries produced landscapes, still lifes, or genre scenes of daily life that never held great interest for Rembrandt. In his own era Rembrandt achieved greatest fame as the most fashionable portrait painter of Amsterdam during the 1630s, but he was eventually eclipsed even during his own lifetime by younger rivals, including some of his own students. Another major field of accomplishment lay in the medium of etching. Rembrandt commanded high prices for his prints even during his lifetime, and his technical mastery had a lasting effect on printmakers for centuries. If any quality typified the works of this great artist, especially in his youth, that quality would be a personal ambition to rival the dominant artists of Europe, particularly Peter Paul Rubens from nearby Antwerp. But the tides of fashion in Holland and Rembrandt's own temperament seem to have frustrated much of his ambition and left him increasingly isolated and idiosyncratic in his final years. There is actually a kernel of truth to the apocryphal legend of Rembrandt's rejection by the leading patrons of Amsterdam, although this loss of favour was gradual and never total. As a result of his increasing isolation, however, Rembrandt achieved a particular personal independence that doubtless contributed to his distinctive and evocative suggestion of the timeless human world of quiet yet deep emotional states. The silent human figure remained the central subject of Rembrandt's art and contributed to the sense of a shared dialogue between viewer and picture, which still is the foundation of Rembrandt's greatness as well as of his popularity today. Additional reading Biographical works and documents C. Hofstede de Groot, Die Urkunden ber Rembrandt (15751721), new ed. (1906), a basic source that contains all documents concerning Rembrandt known at the time of publication, with annotations; Arnold Houbraken, De Groote schouburgh der nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vol. (171821, reissued 1976), a long biography containing many anecdotes as well as facts that became the basis for 18th- and 19th-century criticism of Rembrandt's works; Bob Haak, Rembrandt: His Life, Work, and Times (1969; originally published in Dutch, 1968), an illustrated biography with a discussion of the period in Dutch history, including documents concerning Rembrandt's life; Otto Benesch, Rembrandt: Werk und Forschung (1935, reissued 1970), a detailed analysis of Rembrandt's life and oeuvre, including a bibliography; Christopher White, Rembrandt and His World (1964), a study of the artist's life and environment, and Rembrandt (1984), a later general study that draws on recent research; Kenneth Clark, An Introduction to Rembrandt (1978), a biography for the general reader; Christian Tmpel, Rembrandt in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten (1977), a study of biographical and autobiographical documents; Walter L. Strauss and Marjon van der Meulen (comps.), The Rembrandt Documents (1979), a collection of primary records; and Jacob Rosenberg, Rembrandt, Life and Work, 2nd rev. ed. (1964, reissued 1980), a survey and catalog. See also Gary Schwartz, Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings: A New Biography with All Accessible Paintings Illustrated in Colour (1985; originally published in Dutch, 1984). Analytical catalogs Paintings C. Hofstede de Groot, Rembrandt in vol. 6 of his Catalogue Raisonn of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, trans. from German, 8 vol. (190727, reissued in 3 vol., 1976); Kurt Bauch, Rembrandt Gemlde (1965); and A. Bredius, Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings, 4th ed., revised by Horst Gerson, trans. from Dutch (1971), a book in which the authors reject a number of works that are generally attributed to the artist and provide an understanding of many aspects of the artist's personality and oeuvre. See also J. Bruyn et al., A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings: Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (1982 ), a multivolume work, of which two volumes had appeared by 1986 covering the years 1625 to 1634. Etchings Ludwig Mnz (ed.), Rembrandt's Etchings: Reproductions of the Whole Original Etched Work, complete ed., 2 vol. (1952); Arthur M. Hind, A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1923, reprinted in 1 vol., 1967); George Birklund and Osbart H. Barnard, Rembrandt's Etchings, True and False: A Summary Catalogue, 2nd rev. ed. (1968), with a discussion of the various states of the works; and Christopher White and Karel G. Boon, Rembrandt's Etchings: An Illustrated Critical Catalogue, 2 vol. (1969). Drawings Ben Broos, Rembrandt en tekenaars uit zijn omgeving (1981); and Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, enl. ed., edited by Eva Benesch, 6 vol. (1973). Critical studies Seymour Slive, Rembrandt and His Critics, 16301730 (1953), a study of critical and biographical works on the artist; Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, The Present State of Rembrandt Studies, Art Bulletin, 53:88104 (March 1971), an overview of modern scholarship; Jan A. Emmens, Rembrandt en de regels van de kunst (1968, reissued 1979), a work demolishing the image of Rembrandt that was created by the 17th-century classicistic critics and that continued to influence scholarship well into the 20th century, with a summary in English; Otto Benesch, Rembrandt, vol. 1 of his Collected Writings, 4 vol., edited by Eva Benesch (197073), a collection of articles; Julius S. Held, Rembrandt's Aristotle: And Other Rembrandt Studies (1969), a collection of the author's iconological studies of Rembrandt; Horst Gerson, Rembrandt Paintings, trans. from Dutch (1968, reprinted 1978), a general discussion of Rembrandt's development and position in Dutch art, including a catalog of the paintings; Christopher White, Rembrandt as an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at Work, 2 vol. (1969), a discussion that emphasizes the artist's technique and the connections between the etchings, drawings, and paintings; Otto Benesch, Rembrandt as a Draughtsman (1960), an introduction commenting upon the discovered additions to the artist's drawing oeuvre; Christopher White, The Drawings of Rembrandt, 2nd ed. (1966); and Christopher Wright, Rembrandt, Self-Portraits (1982), an illustrated interpretation of the self-portraits. Other studies include H. van de Waal, Steps Towards Rembrandt: Collected Articles 19371972, trans. from Dutch (1974); and Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, Rembrandt, the Nightwatch (1982); Anthony Bailey, Responses to Rembrandt (1994), explores the debate over which works credited to Rembrandt are actually authentic. Rembrandt's interests, influences, and contemporaries R.W. Scheller, Rembrandt en de encyclopedische verzameling, Oud-Holland, 84(23):81147 (1969), an interpretation of Rembrandt's art collecting, with a summary in English; Kenneth Clark, Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance (1966), a discussion of antique and Renaissance influences on Rembrandt's style; Werner Sumowski (ed.), Gemlde der Rembrandt-Schler (1983 ), a multivolume analytical catalog of paintings of the Rembrandt school, of which two volumes were published by 1986, and his Drawings of the Rembrandt School, trans. from German (1979 ), another multivolume work, of which nine volumes are available; Wolfgang Stechow, Some Observations on Rembrandt and Lastman, Oud-Holland, 84(23):148162 (1969); Rudolf H. Fuchs, Rembrandt in Amsterdam (1969; originally published in Dutch, 1968), essays on the artist's connections with the city and with the art of his contemporaries; Geschildert tot Leyden anno 1626 (1976), an exhibition catalog of works by the artist and his contemporaries; A.B. de Vries, Magdi Tth-Ubbens, and W. Froentjes, Rembrandt in the Mauritshuis: An Interdisciplinary Study, trans. from Dutch (1978), an analysis of several works of Rembrandt in conjunction with works of his contemporaries in The Hague museum; Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (16161680): Rembrandt's Pupil (1982; originally published in Dutch, 1976); and Albert Blankert et al., The Impact of a Genius: Rembrandt, His Pupils and Followers in the Seventeenth Century: Paintings from Museums and Private Collections (1983), and Gods, Saints, & Heroes: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt (1980), exhibition catalogs. See also Rembrandt After Three Hundred Years: An Exhibition of Rembrandt and His Followers (1969), a catalog, containing a discussion on Rembrandt as a teacher in the introduction written by Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, and, published in conjunction with the exhibition, a symposium of the same title edited by Deirdre C. Stam (1973). Larry A. Silver