Rembrandt's etchings: a brief biography of the artist, famous works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (born July 15, 1606, Leiden, Netherlands - died October 4, 1669, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker, one of the greatest masters in the history of art, with an exceptional ability to represent people in their various moods and dramatic guises. At the beginning of his career, the artist preferred portraits. Although he continued to draw and engrave them throughout his career, he turned to this genre less and less over time.

Biography

He was the ninth child of Harmen Gerritson van Rijn and Neltgena Willemsdochter van Zeitbroek. His family was quite we althy. Her father was a miller and her mother was a baker's daughter. As a child, he attended a Latin school and was enrolled at the University of Leiden, although, according to a contemporary, he was inclined towards painting. Soon he became a student of Jacob van Swanenburg, withwho spent three years. After a short but important apprenticeship of six months with renowned artist Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, he opened a studio in Leiden, which he shared with friend and colleague Jan Lievens. In 1627, Rembrandt began to accept students.

In 1629, thanks to the help of Constantine Huygens, the artist received important orders at the court of The Hague. Prince Frederik Hendrik bought his paintings until 1646.

At the end of 1631, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, and in 1634 he married Saskia van Uylenburgh. In the same year he became governor of Amsterdam and a member of the local guild of artists. He had five students. Of all the children of Rembrandt, only the fourth child survived, the son Titus, who was born in 1641. A year later, his wife died.

Rembrandt lived beyond his means, buying art, prints and rarities. As a result, to avoid bankruptcy in 1656, he was forced to sell most of his paintings and collection of antiquities.

Rembrandt outlived his son, who died in 1668, leaving a young daughter. The artist himself died a year later, on October 4, 1669, in Amsterdam, and was buried in an unmarked grave at the Westerkerk.

Engraving artist

For many, this fact will seem surprising, but it was Rembrandt's engravings and etchings, and not his paintings, that brought him fame during his lifetime. For Europeans of that era, printing, etching or woodcuts were akin to modern photographs. In addition to the printed word itself, they were the main means of mass communication. XVII century. Printers and artists themselves could produce a large number of prints. The works performed by Rembrandt in the etching technique took the form of simple leaflets, others became illustrations in books. Some reproduced paintings from private collections that were not available to the public.

Thus, Rembrandt turned etching into a surprisingly flexible tool of his art. The subjects of his work were varied: biblical scenes, landscapes, portraits - all of which he found suitable for etching. As good with tools as he was with technique, Rembrandt sometimes even used a V-shaped engraver in his etchings, combining it with a precision etching needle and a thicker drypoint needle for richer graphic effects. Rembrandt's great gift as a painter was to maintain a sense of spontaneity with meticulous attention to detail.

Engraving technique

In the art of etching, Rembrandt showed great ingenuity.

Before him, the technique was more often used when the artist worked directly on a metal plate, usually copper. To create the image, he painstakingly carved lines into its surface with a thin, diagonally pointed steel chisel. Excess metal remaining near the furrow was carefully cleaned off. Then the plate was covered with paint and prints were made from it. The visual effect of such an engraving is neat, regular lines.

Specific Rembrandt technology

When using another method, the plate was covered with a protective layer of resin. Thenthe artist scratched his drawing with a needle into the resin and immersed the plate in a bath of acid, which corroded the metal wherever the protective layer was removed. The action of the acid led to the appearance of irregular, vibrating lines. However, Rembrandt regarded this not as a disadvantage, but as a challenge.

Copper plate is easy to change and fix. Lines can be removed by grinding or polishing, or added as needed. When etching, the plate is simply covered with a fresh layer of resin and new scratches are made on it. The artist sometimes needed several years to complete the work so that it completely satisfied him. He occasionally sold prints made at different stages of the work. Often there are four or five different states of the same etching. Sometimes the changes are minor, and sometimes they are radical.

Portraits and landscapes, domestic and religious scenes executed by Rembrandt in the technique of etching, a characteristic feature is the boldness and novelty of artistic techniques.

Characteristics of work

Rembrandt's earliest engravings can be dated to around 1626, when he was 20 years old. Very few surviving depictions, such as the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, show his inexperience. He did not think of making his print look like an engraving, but used a free, scribbling stroke. The protective layer on his plates was soft, allowing him to move the needle with the fluidity of chalk or pen on paper.

The sense of humanity inherent inRembrandt is quite evident in a group of small etchings of beggars and outcasts made in the late 1620s. They are influenced by both the subject and the manner of rendering the poses of the great contemporary of Rembrandt, the French engraver Jacques Callot.

Two or three years after his first works, Rembrandt became a master engraver. The portrait of his mother, dated 1628, is an extremely insightful study of character by the 22-year-old artist, rendered in a network of very fine lines that capture the play of light, shadow and air, with a skill far superior to that of Callot or any Dutch etching. Rembrandt constantly honed his technique, as can be clearly seen in a later portrait of his mother, taken in 1631. However, as in all the works of the artist in his Leiden years, delicacy appears next to courage, even rudeness.

Engravings

During his career, the artist has made dozens, even hundreds of prints of many of his 290 plates (numbers are approximate). The largest Rembrandt etchings are 53 by 45 cm, many of them are postcard-sized or even smaller.

At least 79 of Rembrandt's original plates still survive. They are all thin metal, the thickest being only one-twenty-fifth of an inch. Many of them are worn out or have been damaged by recycling at a later date.

Perhaps the most famous etchings by Rembrandt are Faust, Three Crosses, Pancake Maker, Mill, Three Trees, Christ,Healing the Sick” (or “A Leaf of One Hundred Guilders”).