The work of the brilliant Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is one of the pinnacles of world painting. The extraordinary breadth of the thematic range, the deepest humanism that inspires works, the true democracy of art, the constant search for the most expressive artistic means, unsurpassed skill gave the artist the opportunity to embody the most profound and advanced ideas of the time. The coloring of Rembrandt's paintings of the mature and late period, built on a combination of warm close tones, iridescent with the finest shades, light, fluttering and concentrated, as if emitted by the objects themselves, contribute to the extraordinary emotionality of his works. But they are given special value by high, noble feelings, which give poetry and sublime beauty to everyday things.
The Apprentice and His Tutor, 1629-1630, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, 1630, Rijksmuseum
Minerva, circa 1631, Rijksmuseum, Berlin
Rembrandt painted historical, biblical, mythological and everyday paintings, portraits and landscapes; he was one of the greatest masters of etching and drawing. But no matter what technique Rembrandt worked in, the center of his attention was always a person, with his inner world, his experiences. Rembrandt often found his heroes among the representatives of the Dutch poor, in them he revealed the best character traits, inexhaustible spiritual wealth. The artist carried faith in man through all his life, hardships and trials. She helped him until his last days to create works that express the best aspirations of the Dutch people.
The Rape of Proserpina, circa 1631, Art Gallery, Dresden
Anatomy Lesson by Dr. Nicholas Tulp, 1632, Mauritshuis, The Hague
The Rape of Europa, 1632, Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in 1606 in Leiden, the son of a mill owner. His teachers were Swannenburgh and later Lastman. From 1625, Rembrandt began to work independently. His early works bear traces of the influence of Lastman, sometimes Utrecht painters, followers of Caravaggio. Soon, the young Rembrandt found his way, clearly marked in portraits, made mainly of himself and his loved ones. Already in these works, chiaroscuro became for him one of the main means of artistic expression. He studied various manifestations of characters, facial expressions, facial expressions, individual traits.
Daniel and the Persian king Cyrus before the idol of Baal, 1633, Getty Museum
Goddess of War Bellona, 1633, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Shipbuilder and his Wife, 1633, Art Gallery, Buckingham Palace
In 1632, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and immediately gained fame with the painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632, The Hague, Mauritshuis). In essence, this is a large group portrait of doctors who surrounded Dr. Tulp and listened attentively to his explanations on an anatomical corpse. Such a construction of the composition allowed the artist to convey the individual features of each person portrayed and connect them into a free group with a general state of deep interest, to emphasize the vitality of the situation. In contrast to the group portraits of Hals, where each of the portrayed occupies an equivalent position, in Rembrandt's painting all the characters are psychologically subordinate to Tulpa, whose figure is highlighted by a wide silhouette and a free hand gesture. Bright light reveals the center of the composition, contributes to the impression of group composure, and increases expression.
The success of the first picture brought the artist many commissions, and with them wealth, which increased with his marriage to the patrician Saskia van Uylenburgh. One after another, Rembrandt writes large religious compositions, like the Sacrifice of Abraham (1635, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), full of dynamics and pathos, ceremonial portraits. He is fascinated by heroic-dramatic images, outwardly spectacular constructions, magnificent fancy attire, contrasts of light and shadow, and sharp angles. Rembrandt often depicts Saskia and himself, young, happy, full of strength. These are “Portrait of Saskia” (circa 1634, Kassel, Art Gallery), “Self-Portrait” (1634, Paris, Louvre), “Self-Portrait with Saskia on His Knees” (circa 1636, Dresden, Art Gallery). Rembrandt worked a lot in the field of etching, being fond of genre motifs, portraits, landscapes, and created a whole series of images of representatives of the social lower classes.
Judith at the Reception of Holofernes (painting formerly known as Artemisia), 1634, Prado Museum, Madrid
Diana and Nymphs Bathe Telling Stories of Actaeon and Callisto, 1635, Wasserburg Anholt Museum
Saskia van Uylenburgh in Arcadian costume, 1635, National Gallery, London
By the end of the 1630s, the artist's attraction to realistic images in large-scale paintings was revealed. The mythological theme in the painting Danae (1636, most of the painting was repainted in the mid-1640s, St. Petersburg, the Hermitage) acquired an unusually vital and convincing solution. Rejecting violent pathos and external effects, Rembrandt strove for psychological expressiveness. The warm colors have become richer, the light has acquired an even greater role, imparting a special trepidation and excitement to the work.
Man in Oriental Costume, 1633, National Gallery, Washington
Unbelief of the Apostle Thomas, 1634, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
Samson threatens his father-in-law, 1635, Rijksmuseum, Berlin
With the deepening of the realistic skill of the artist, his disagreements with the surrounding bourgeois-patrician environment grew. In 1642, commissioned by a company of riflemen, he painted a large painting (3.87 x 5.02 m), due to the darkening of colors from time to time, which later received the name “Night Watch” (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). Instead of the traditional feast with portraits of its participants, where each one is depicted with all the care of individual characteristics, as was done earlier, the artist depicted the performance of shooters on a campaign. Raising the banner, led by the captain, they march along the wide bridge near the guild building to the sound of a drum. An unusually bright beam of light, illuminating individual figures, the faces of the procession participants and a little girl with a rooster at her waist, as if making her way through the ranks of shooters, emphasizes the unexpectedness, dynamics and excitement of the image. The images of courageous people, seized with a heroic impulse, are combined here with a generalized image of the Dutch people, inspired by the consciousness of unity and faith in their own strength. Thus, a group portrait acquires the character of a kind of historical painting, in which the artist seeks to assess the present. Rembrandt embodies his idea of lofty civic ideals, of a people who have risen to fight for freedom and national independence. In the years when the internal contradictions that divided the country were increasingly revealed, the artist made a call for civic feat. Rembrandt sought to create an image of the heroic Holland, to glorify the patriotic upsurge of its citizens. However, this idea was already largely alien to his customers.
Throughout the 1640s, the differences between the artist and bourgeois society were growing. This is facilitated by difficult events in his personal life, the death of Saskia. But it was at this time that the time of maturity came in Rembrandt's work. The spectacular dramatic scenes of his early paintings are being replaced by the poetization of everyday life: lyrical plots become predominant, such as “Farewell of David to Jonathan” (1642), “The Holy Family” (1645, both paintings - St. Petersburg, the Hermitage), in whom the depth of human feelings conquers with a surprisingly subtle and strong incarnation. It would seem that in simple everyday scenes, in sparing and accurately found gestures and movements, the artist reveals the complexity of the spiritual life, the flow of thoughts of the characters. He transfers the scene of the painting "The Holy Family" to a poor peasant house, where the father works as a carpenter, and the young mother carefully guards the baby's sleep. Every thing here is covered with the breath of poetry, emphasizes the mood of silence, peace, tranquility. This is facilitated by soft light that illuminates the faces of the mother and baby, the subtlest shades of warm golden color.
Christ and Mary Magdalene at the Tomb, 1638, Royal Collection, Windsor
Agatha Bass against a Window, 1641, Art Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Preacher Cornelis Claes Anslo and his wife Eltje Gerritsdr Schouten, 1641, Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Images of Rembrandt's graphic works - drawings and etchings - are full of deep inner significance. With particular force, the democratism of his art is expressed in the etching “Christ Healing the Sick” (circa 1649, “A Sheet of a Hundred Guilders”, so named because of the high price that he bought at auctions). Striking is the penetrating interpretation of the images of the sick and suffering, the beggars and the poor, who are opposed by self-satisfied, richly dressed Pharisees. Genuine monumental scope, picturesqueness, subtle and sharp contrasts of chiaroscuro, tonal richness are distinguished by his etchings and pen drawings, both thematic and landscape.
A huge place in the late period is occupied by simple but compositions, most often generational portraits of relatives and friends, in which the artist focuses on revealing the spiritual world of the portrayed. Many times he writes to Hendrickje Stoffels, revealing her spiritual kindness and friendliness, nobility and dignity - such, for example, "Hendrickje at the Window" (Berlin, Museum). Often the model is his son Titus, a sickly, fragile young man with a gentle spiritual face. In the portrait with a book (circa 1656, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), the image seems to be penetrated by the sun's rays. Among the most penetrating are the portrait of Breuning (1652, Kassel, Gallery), a young golden-haired man with a mobile face illuminated by inner light, and a portrait of the closed-sad Jan Six (1654, Amsterdam, Six collection), as if stopped in thought, pulling on a glove.
Self-Portrait with a Felt Hat, 1642, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, London
Toilet of Bathsheba, 1643, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Portrait of a Lady with Clasped Hands (Hendrikje Stoffels?), circa 1650, Royal Collection, London
Late self-portraits of the artist also belong to this type of portraits, striking with the diversity of psychological characteristics, the expression of the most elusive movements of the soul. The “Self-Portrait” of the Vienna Museum (circa 1652) was executed with noble simplicity and majesty; in the "Self-portrait" from the Louvre (1660), the artist depicted himself meditating, intently sad. At the same time, a portrait of an old woman, the wife of her brother (1654, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), was painted, a portrait-biography that speaks of a hard lived life, of harsh days that left their eloquent marks on the wrinkled face and weary hands of this survivor woman. By concentrating light on the face and hands, the artist draws the viewer's attention to them, revealing the spiritual richness and human dignity of those portrayed. Almost all of these portraits are not custom-made: every year there are less and less orders.
The last decade is the most tragic time in Rembrandt's life; declared an insolvent debtor, he settles in the poorest quarter of Amsterdam, loses his best friends and loved ones. Hendrickje and son Titus die. But the misfortunes that befell him could not stop the development of the creative genius of the artist. The deepest and most beautiful works were written by him at this time. The group portrait of "Sindiki" (the elders of the cloth guild, 1662, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) completes the artist's achievements in this genre. Its vitality lies in the depth and specificity of each of the subjects, in the naturalness of the composition, clear and balanced, in the stinginess and accuracy of the selection of details, in the harmony of a restrained color scheme, and at the same time in creating an integral image of a group of people united by the common interests that they protect. . An unusual angle emphasizes the monumental nature of the image, the significance and solemnity of what is happening.
Young woman trying on earrings, 1657, Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Artaxerxes, Haman and Esther, 1660, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
Family portrait, 1668, Duke Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig
A number of large-sized thematic paintings by the master also belong to the late period: “The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis” (1661, Stockholm, National Museum), a historical composition depicting the leader of the Batav tribe, who were considered the ancestors of the Netherlands, who in the 1st century raised the people to revolt against Rome, as well as paintings on biblical subjects: "Artaxerxes, Haman and Esther" (1660, Moscow, Pushkin Museum). The plot of the biblical parable of the prodigal son attracted the artist before, it is found in one of his etchings. But only towards the end of his life did Rembrandt come to his deepest revelation. In the image of a tired, repentant man who fell to his knees before his father, the tragic path of knowing life is expressed, and in the image of the father who forgave the prodigal son, the highest happiness available to a person, the limit of feelings that fill the heart, is embodied. The solution to this large-scale composition is amazingly simple, where the main characters seem to be illuminated by an inner light, where the gesture of the hands of the father, who has regained his son, expresses his infinite kindness, and the drooping figure of a wanderer in dirty rags, clinging to his father, expresses all the power of repentance, the tragedy of searching. and losses. Other characters are relegated to the background, in the penumbra, and their compassion and thoughtfulness only highlight even more, as if glowing with a warm glow, paternal love and forgiveness, which the great Dutch artist left people like a testament.
The influence of Rembrandt's art was enormous. It affected the work not only of his direct students, of whom Karel Fabritius came closest to understanding the teacher, but also on the art of every more or less significant Dutch artist. The art of Rembrandt had a profound impact on the development of all world realistic art subsequently. While the greatest Dutch artist, having come into conflict with bourgeois society, died in need, other painters, having mastered the skill of truthful transmission of the depicted, managed to achieve lifetime recognition and well-being. Having concentrated their efforts in the field of one or another genre of painting, many of them created significant works in their field.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in the Dutch city of Leiden in 1606 on July 15. Rembrandt's father was a wealthy miller, his mother baked well, was the daughter of a baker. The surname "van Rijn" literally means "from the Rhine", that is, from the Rhine River, where Rembrandt's great-grandfathers had mills. Of the 10 children in the family, Rembrandt was the youngest. Other children followed in the footsteps of their parents, and Rembrandt chose a different path - an artistic one, and was educated at a Latin school.
At the age of 13, Rembrandt began to learn to draw, and also entered the city university. Age then did not bother anyone, the main thing at that time was knowledge at the level. Many scholars suggest that Rembrandt went to university not to study, but to get a deferment from the army.
Rembrandt's first teacher was Jacob van Swanenbürch.. In his workshop, the future artist spent about three years, then moved to Amsterdam to study with Peter Lastman. From 1625 to 1626 Rembrandt returned to his hometown, and made acquaintances with artists and some of Lastman's students.
Nevertheless, after much deliberation, Rembrandt decided that an artist's career should be done in the capital of Holland, and again moved to Amsterdam.
In 1634 Rembrandt married Saskia. By the time of their marriage, everyone had a good fortune (Rembrandt had paintings, and Saskia's parents left an impressive legacy). So it wasn't an arranged marriage. They truly loved each other passionately.
In 1635 - 1640s. wife bore Rembrandt three children, but they all died as newborns. In 1641, Saskia gave birth to a son, who was named Titus. The child survived, but, unfortunately, the mother herself died at the age of 29.
After the death of his wife, Rembrandt was not himself, he did not know what to do, and found solace in drawing. It was in the year when his wife died that he completed the painting "Night Watch". With Titus, the young father could not cope and therefore hired a nanny for the child - Gertje Dirks, who became his mistress. About 2 years have passed, and the nanny in the house has changed. She became a young girl Hendrikje Stoffels. What happened to Gertier Dirks? She sued Rembrandt, believing that he violated the marriage contract, but she lost the argument, and was sent to a correctional home, where she spent 5 years. Released, she died a year later.
The new nanny Hendrikje Stoffels bore Rembrandt two children. Their first child, a boy, died in infancy, and their daughter Karnelia, the only one who outlived her father.
Few people know that Rembrandt had a very peculiar collection, which included paintings by Italian artists, various drawings, engravings, various busts and even weapons.
Things were going badly for Rembrandt. There was not enough money, the number of orders decreased. Therefore, the artist sold part of his collection, but this did not save him either. He was on the verge of going to prison, but the court was in his favor, so he was allowed to sell all his property and pay off his debts. He even lived for some time in a house that no longer belonged to him.
Meanwhile, Titus and his mother organized a firm that traded in art objects in order to somehow help Rembrandt. In truth, until the end of his life, the artist never paid off many, but this did not spoil Rembrandt's reputation, he remained a worthy person in the eyes of people.
Rembrandt's death was very sad. In 1663, the artist's beloved, Hendrikje, died. Some time later, Rembrandt buried his son Titus and his bride. In 1669, on October 4, he himself left this world, but forever left a mark in the hearts of people who love him.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn [ˈrɛmbrɑnt ˈɦɑrmə(n)soːn vɑn ˈrɛin], 1606-1669) was a Dutch artist, draftsman and engraver, a great master of chiaroscuro, the largest representative of the golden age of Dutch painting. He managed to embody in his works the whole range of human experiences with such emotional richness, which fine art did not know before him. Rembrandt's works, extremely diverse in genre, open to the viewer the timeless spiritual world of human experiences and feelings.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon ("son of Harmen") van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 (according to some sources, in 1607) in a large family of a wealthy mill owner Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn in Leiden. The mother's family, even after the Dutch Revolution, remained faithful to the Catholic faith.
In Leiden, Rembrandt attended the Latin school at the university, but showed the greatest interest in painting. At the age of 13, he was sent to study fine art with the Leiden historical painter Jacob van Swanenbürch, a Catholic by faith. Researchers have not been able to find Rembrandt's works related to this period, so the question of Swanenbürch's influence on the formation of Rembrandt's creative manner remains open: too little is known today about this Leiden artist.
In 1623, Rembrandt studied in Amsterdam with Pieter Lastman, who had trained in Italy and specialized in historical, mythological and biblical subjects. Returning to Leiden in 1627, Rembrandt, together with his friend Jan Lievens, opened his own workshop and began to recruit students. Within a few years he gained wide popularity.
Lastman's passion for variegation and detail in execution had a huge impact on the young artist. It clearly comes through in his first surviving works - "The Stoning of St. Stephen" (1629), "A Scene from Ancient History" (1626) and "The Baptism of a Eunuch" (1626). In comparison with his mature works, they are unusually colorful, the artist strives to carefully write out every detail of the material world, as accurately as possible to convey the exotic setting of the biblical story. Almost all the characters appear before the viewer dressed up in bizarre oriental outfits, shining with jewels, which creates an atmosphere of pomp, splendor, festivity (“Allegory of Music”, 1626; “David before Saul”, 1627).
The final works of the period - "Tobit and Anna", "Balaam and the donkey" - reflect not only the rich imagination of the artist, but also his desire to convey the dramatic experiences of his heroes as expressively as possible. Like other masters of the Baroque, he begins to comprehend the meaning of sharply sculpted chiaroscuro in conveying emotion. His teachers in relation to working with light were the Utrecht caravagists, but he was even more guided by the works of Adam Elsheimer, a German who worked in Italy. The most caravaggist paintings by Rembrandt are “The Parable of the Foolish Rich Man” (1627), “Simeon and Anna in the Temple” (1628), “Christ at Emmaus” (1629).
Adjacent to this group is the painting The Artist in His Studio (1628; perhaps this is a self-portrait), in which the artist captured himself in the studio at the moment of contemplating his own creation. The canvas that is being worked on is brought to the forefront of the picture; in comparison with him, the author himself seems a dwarf.
One of the unresolved issues of Rembrandt's creative biography is his artistic overlap with Lievens. Working side by side, they took on the same subject more than once, such as Samson and Delilah (1628/1629) or The Resurrection of Lazarus (1631). In part, both were drawn to Rubens, who was then known as the best artist in all of Europe, sometimes Rembrandt borrowed the artistic finds of Livens, sometimes it was exactly the opposite. For this reason, the distinction between the works of Rembrandt and Lievens of 1628-1632 presents certain difficulties for art historians. Among his other famous works is "Valaam's donkey" (1626).
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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
The largest representative of the golden age, artist, engraver, great master of chiaroscuro - and all this in one name Rembrandt.
Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden. This great Dutch artist managed to embody in his works the whole range of human experiences with such emotional richness that fine art had not known before him.
He grew up in a large family of wealthy mill owner Harmen Gerritszon van Rijn. Among other things, the property of Van Rein had two more houses, and he also received a significant dowry from his wife Cornelia Neltier. The mother of the future artist was the daughter of a baker and was versed in cooking. Even after the Dutch Revolution, the mother's family remained faithful to the Catholic religion.
In Leiden, Rembrandt attended the Latin school at the university, but did not like the exact sciences, he showed the greatest interest in painting. Realizing this fact, his parents sent Rembrandt to study fine art at the age of 13 to the Leiden historical painter Jacob van Swanenbürch, who was a Catholic. Diverse in genre and subject matter, Rembrandt's works are imbued with ideas of morality, spiritual beauty and dignity of an ordinary person, understanding of the incomprehensible complexity of his inner world, the versatility of his intellectual wealth, and the depth of his emotional experiences. Very little information has come down to us about Jacob, so both historians and art critics cannot say for sure about the influence of Swanenbergh on Rembrandt's creative manner.
Then, in 1623, he studied in Amsterdam with the then fashionable painter Pieter Lastman, after which, returning to Leiden, in 1625 he opened his own workshop together with his fellow countryman Jan Lievens.
Pitera Lastman trained in Italy and specialized in historical, mythological and biblical subjects. When Rembrandt opened a workshop and began to recruit students, he became considerably famous in a short time. If you look at the first works of the artist, you can immediately understand that Lastman's style - a passion for variegation and pettiness of performance, had a huge impact on the young artist. For example, his work “The Stoning of St. Stephen" (1629), "A Scene from Ancient History" (1626) and "The Baptism of a Eunuch" (1626), are very bright, unusually colorful, Rembrandt strives to carefully write out every detail of the material world. Almost all the characters appear before the viewer dressed up in fancy oriental outfits, shining with jewels, which creates an atmosphere of majority, splendor, festivity.
In 1628, the twenty-two-year-old artist was recognized as a "highly famous" master, a famous portrait painter.
The painting “Judas Returns the Silver Pieces” (1629) evoked an enthusiastic review from the famous connoisseur of painting Constantine Huygens, secretary of the stadtholder Frederick Hendrik of Orange: “... this body trembling with miserable trembling is what I prefer to good taste of all times.”
Thanks to the connections of Constantine, Rembrandt soon acquires rich art admirers: because of the mediation of Haygens, the Prince of Orange commissions several religious works from the artist, such as Christ before Pilate (1636).
The real success for the artist comes in Amsterdam. June 8, 1633 Rembrandt meets the daughter of a wealthy burgher Saskia van Uylenbürch and wins a strong position in society. The artist painted most of the canvases while in the capital of the Netherlands.
Amsterdam - a bustling port and industrial city, which attracted goods and curiosities from all over the world, where people grew rich in trade and banking transactions, where the outcasts of feudal Europe rushed in search of shelter, and where the well-being of wealthy burghers coexisted with depressing poverty, connects strong ties with the artist .
The Amsterdam period of Rembrandt's work began with the overwhelming success that Dr. Tulp's Anatomy Lesson (1632, The Hague, Mauritshuis) brought him, which changed the tradition of the Dutch group portrait. Rembrandt contrasted the usual demonstration of people of the general profession posing for the artist with the dramaturgy of a freely decided scene, the participants of which are members of the guild of surgeons, listening to their colleague, united intellectually and spiritually by active involvement in the process of scientific research.
Rembrandt is inspired by the beauty of his beloved, so he often paints her portraits. Three days after the wedding, van Rijn painted a woman with a wide-brimmed hat in silver pencil. Saskia appeared in the paintings of the Dutchman in a cozy home environment. The image of this plump-cheeked woman appears on many canvases, for example, the mysterious girl in the painting "Night Watch" strongly resembles the artist's beloved.
The thirties in the life of Rembrandt were a period of fame, wealth and family happiness. He received many orders, was surrounded by students, passionately carried away by collecting works of Italian, Flemish and Dutch painters, antique sculpture, minerals, marine plants, ancient weapons, objects of oriental art; in the work on the paintings, the exhibits of the collection often served the artist as props.
Rembrandt's works of this period are extremely varied; they testify to the tireless, sometimes painful search for an artistic understanding of the spiritual and social essence of man and nature and demonstrate trends that relentlessly, step by step, bring the artist into conflict with society.
In portraits “for himself” and self-portraits, the artist freely experiments with composition and chiaroscuro effects, changes the tone of the color scheme, dresses his models in fantastic or exotic clothes, varies poses, gestures, accessories (“Flora”, 1634, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum ).
In 1635, the famous painting based on the biblical story "The Sacrifice of Abraham" was painted, which was appreciated in secular society.
In 1642, van Rijn received a commission from the Shooting Society for a group portrait to decorate the new building with canvas. The painting was mistakenly called "Night Watch". It was stained with soot, and only in the 17th century, researchers came to the conclusion that the action unfolding on the canvas takes place in the daytime.
Rembrandt thoroughly depicted every detail of the musketeers on the move: as if at a certain moment time stopped when the militia left the dark courtyard so that van Rijn captured them on the canvas.
The customers did not like that the Dutch painter departed from the canons that developed in the 17th century. Then group portraits were ceremonial, and the participants were portrayed full face without any static.
According to scientists, this painting was the reason for the bankruptcy of the artist in 1653, as it scared off potential customers.
The tragic changes in the personal fate of Rembrandt (the death of newborn children, mother, in 1642 - the illness and death of Saskia, who left him a nine-month-old son Titus), the deterioration of his financial situation due to his stubborn unwillingness to sacrifice the freedom of spirit and creativity in favor of the changing tastes of the burghers, exacerbated and laid bare the gradually ripening conflict between the artist and society.
Information about the private life of Rembrandt in the 1640s. little has been preserved in the documents. Of the disciples of this period, only Nicholas Mas from Dordrecht is known. Apparently, the artist continued to live in grand style, as before. The family of the late Saskia expressed concern about how he disposed of her dowry. Titus' nanny, Gertje Dirks, sued him for breaking his promise to marry; in order to settle this incident, the artist had to fork out.
In the late 1640s, Rembrandt became friends with his young servant Hendrikje Stoffels, whose image flashes in many portrait works of this period: Flora (1654), Bathing Woman (1654), Hendrikje at the Window (1655)). The parish council condemned Hendrickje for "sinful cohabitation" when, in 1654, her daughter Cornelia was born with the artist. During these years, Rembrandt moves away from topics that have a grandiose national or universal sound.
The artist worked for a long time on engraved portraits of burgomaster Jan Six (1647) and other influential burghers. All the methods and techniques of engraving known to him were used in the manufacture of the carefully crafted etching "Christ Healing the Sick", better known as the "Leaf of a Hundred Guilders", - it was for such a huge price for the 17th century that it was once sold. Over this etching, which strikes with the subtlety of the play of light and shade, he worked for seven years, from 1643 to 1649.
In 1653, experiencing financial difficulties, the artist transferred almost all his property to his son Titus, after which he declared bankruptcy in 1656. After the sale in 1657-58. house and property (an interesting catalog of the Rembrandt art collection has been preserved), the artist moved to the outskirts of Amsterdam, to the Jewish quarter, where he spent the rest of his life.
The death of Titus in 1668 was one of the last strokes of fate for the artist; he himself was gone a year later.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn died in October 1669. He was 63 years old. He was old, sick and poor. The notary did not have to spend much time compiling an inventory of the artist's property. The inventory was brief: “three worn jerseys, eight handkerchiefs, ten berets, painting supplies, one Bible.”
Return of the prodigal son
The famous painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son", one of the last works of Rembrandt. It was written in the year of his death, and became the pinnacle of his talent.
This is the largest painting by Rembrandt on a religious theme. Painting by Rembrandt on the plot of the New Testament parable of the prodigal son.
The parable of the prodigal son is found in the Gospel of Luke. She tells about a young man who left his father's house and squandered his inheritance. In idleness, debauchery and drunkenness, he spent his days until he ended up in a barnyard, where he ate from the same trough with pigs. Being in a desperate situation and complete poverty, the young man returns to his father, ready to become his last slave. But instead of contempt, he finds a royal reception, instead of anger - all-forgiving, deep and tender fatherly love.
1669. Rembrandt plays out a human drama in front of the viewer. Paints lie on the canvas in thick strokes. They are dark. The artist does not care about minor characters, even if there are many of them. Attention is again riveted to the father and son. The old father, hunched over with grief, is facing the viewer. In this face there is pain, and eyes tired from crying out tears, and the happiness of a long-awaited meeting. The son has his back turned to us. He buried himself like a child in his father's royal attire. We do not know what his face expresses. But the cracked heels, the bare skull of the tramp, the poor attire say enough. Like the hands of the father, squeezing the shoulders of the young man. Through the calmness of these hands, forgiving and supporting, Rembrandt for the last time tells the world a universal parable about wealth, passions and vices, repentance and forgiveness. “... I will get up, go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired hands. He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him.
In addition to the father and son, 4 more characters are depicted in the picture. These are dark silhouettes that are hardly distinguishable against a dark background, but who they are remains a mystery. Some called them "brothers and sisters" of the protagonist. It is characteristic that Rembrandt avoids conflict: the parable speaks of the jealousy of an obedient son, and the harmony of the picture is not broken in any way.
Van Gogh very accurately said about Rembrandt: “You have to die several times in order to draw like that ... Rembrandt penetrates the mystery so deeply that he speaks about objects for which there are no words in any language. That's why Rembrandt is called: the magician. And this is not a simple craft.”
The night Watch
The name by which Rembrandt's group portrait "Speech of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenbürg", written in 1642, is traditionally known.
The canvas of the Dutch master is fraught with many "surprises". Let's start with the fact that the name of the picture familiar to us does not correspond to reality: the patrol depicted on it is actually not at all night, but the most that neither is daytime. It’s just that Rembrandt’s work was varnished several times, because of which it darkened greatly. In addition, for almost 100 years (from the beginning of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century), the canvas adorned one of the halls of the Amsterdam City Hall, where it hung right in front of the fireplace, covered with soot year after year. It is not surprising that by the beginning of the 19th century, the name “Night Watch” had firmly established itself behind the painting: by this time, the history of its creation was thoroughly forgotten, and everyone was sure that the master depicted the dark time of the day. Only in 1947, during the restoration at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where the painting is to this day, it turned out that its coloring was incomparably lighter than was commonly believed. Moreover, the short shadows cast by the characters indicate that the action takes place between noon and two o'clock in the afternoon. However, the restorers did not remove all layers of dark lacquer, fearing to damage the paint, so even now the Night Watch is rather twilight.
The real name of the canvas is "Speech by the rifle company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Wilhem van Reitenburg." This is a group portrait of musketeers-militias of one of the districts of Amsterdam. From 1618 to 1648, the Thirty Years' War was going on in Europe, and the inhabitants of the Dutch cities took up arms in order to defend their homes. Rembrandt's creation, along with portraits of other rifle companies, was supposed to decorate the main hall in Kloveniersdolen, the headquarters of the city's riflemen. But the customers were disappointed: Rembrandt did not get a monumental formal portrait, but a genre painting in which they could hardly find their own faces, often half-hidden by other characters. Still would! After all, the artist, in addition to 18 customers (each of whom laid out about 100 golden guilders for his portrait - a very impressive amount at that time), squeezed another 16 people onto the canvas! Who they are is unknown.
Museum – Amsterdam History Museum?
three crosses
One of Rembrandt's most famous etchings, it has five states. Signed and dated only the third, therefore, the rest Rembrandt considered intermediate. The fifth condition is very rare, only five specimens are known.
The etching depicts the dramatic moment of the death of Christ on the Calvary cross, described in the gospels. In this etching, Rembrandt, on an unprecedented scale, used the technique of a cutter and a “dry needle”, which increased the contrast of the image.
On December 2, 2008, this etching (state IV) was sold at Christie's for £421,250.
Descent from the Cross
In 1814, Alexander I purchased the Malmaison Gallery from Empress Josephine. Some of the paintings came from the famous Kassel Gallery, including Descent from the Cross. Previously, these canvases were the property of Mrs. de Ruwer in Delft and, together with other paintings from her collection, were bought by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Ludwig VII. In 1806, his gallery was taken over by Napoleon and presented to Josephine.
In 1815, the successor of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Ludwig VII, a former ally of Alexander I, presented a demand to the emperor for the return of the paintings seized by Napoleon. This demand was resolutely rejected by Alexander I, who paid money for the paintings and in every possible way showed attention to Josephine and her daughter Hortense. In 1829 Hortense, who at that time bore the title of Duchess of Saint-Leu, bought thirty paintings from the Malmaison Gallery.
The theme "Descent from the Cross" had a great iconographic tradition in European art. Her highest achievement was the altar painting by Rubens in the Antwerp Cathedral, widely known from the engraving by Worstermann.
The creative thought of Rembrandt wanders somewhere near this tradition, using it and at the same time constantly choosing other paths. Unusual for the previous development of European art, they are highly characteristic of Rembrandt’s personal creative manner, and it’s not for nothing that “Descent from the Cross” outwardly so strongly resembles “Unbelief of the Apostle Thomas”.
Rubens depicted the sublime grief of a group of majestic and beautiful people about a majestic and beautiful hero; Rembrandt restless mass night scene. Numerous figures either retreat into the darkness, or fall into a ray of light, and it seems that the crowd is moving, living, grieving for the crucified and pitying his mother. There is nothing ideal in the appearance of people, many of them are rude, ugly. Their feelings are very strong, but these are the feelings of ordinary people, not enlightened by that sublime catharsis that is in Rubens' painting.
The dead Christ is a man like them; it is because of the strength of their grief that his suffering and death take on special significance. The key to the content of the picture is, perhaps, not so much Christ, but the person supporting him and pressing his cheek against him.
From an artistic point of view, the fragmented, restless composition is inferior to the famous painting by Rubens, and some of the works of Rembrandt himself, performed in the same years. For example, the “Unbelief of the Apostle Thomas”, less significant in its content, seems outwardly more harmonious and holistic. However, in The Descent from the Cross, Rembrandt's inherent understanding of the biblical gospel theme comes out more clearly.
The work of the young Rembrandt differs from its prototype in the most basic features. First of all, it was not created either formally or in essence as a prayer altar image. Its cabinet size is addressed not to the perception of the crowd, but to the individual experience. This appeal to the feelings and consciousness of one person, the establishment of close spiritual contact with the viewer forced the artist to create a completely new system of artistic means and techniques. Rembrandt saw the scene of the gospel legend as a tragic real event, essentially depriving it of mystical and heroic pathos.
Striving for the utmost sincerity and truthfulness of the image, Rembrandt showed near the cross a close crowd of people, shocked by grief, seeking family unity with each other in the face of terrible death. The brown-olive tonal coloring united the whole composition, and the light flux highlighted its main semantic center dramatically sharply. The greatest depth of suffering is embodied in the image of the Mother of God who fell unconscious with her thin, emaciated face of a toiler. The second group of mourners is located at the left end of the spatial diagonal - the women reverently lay the shroud, fulfilling their direct duty in relation to the deceased. The drooping body of Christ supported by the old man - the embodiment of tortured human flesh - evokes, first of all, a feeling of deep compassion.
Jewish bride
One of Rembrandt's last and most enigmatic paintings. The name was given to her in 1825 by the Amsterdam collector Van der Hop. He mistakenly believed that it depicted a father giving his Jewish daughter a necklace for her wedding. Perhaps this is a custom portrait, but the clothes of the characters are clearly similar to the old, biblical ones, therefore Artaxerxes and Esther, Jacob and Rachel, Abram and Sarah, Boaz and Ruth were suggested as the name.
Saskia as Flora
Painting by Rembrandt, painted in 1634, which probably depicts the artist's wife Saskia van Uylenbuch in the form of the ancient Italian goddess of flowers, flowering, spring and field fruits Flora.
In 1633, Saskia van Uylenbürch became the bride of Rembrandt van Rijn. A charming portrait of young Saskia dressed as Flora is a mute but eloquent witness to this “season of spring and love” of the brilliant painter.
The thoughtful, but undoubtedly happy face of the girl is quite consistent with the feelings of the bride. She is no longer a frisky child, carelessly looking at God's world. She has a serious task ahead of her: she has chosen a new path, and she has to change her mind and re-feel many, many things before she enters adulthood. The headdress and wand entwined with flowers certainly point to Flora, the ancient Roman goddess of spring. The outfit of the goddess is written with amazing skill, but the true greatness of Rembrandt's talent is manifested in the expression of tenderness that the artist gave to her face.
The beloved wife brought the light of happiness and heartfelt contentment into the lonely dwelling of the modest artist. Rembrandt liked to dress Saskia in velvet, silk and brocade, according to the custom of that time, he showered them with diamonds and pearls, watching with love how her lovely, young face wins from a brilliant outfit.
Museum - State Hermitage
Deeply humanistic in its essence and perfect in its unique artistic form, Rembrandt's work has become one of the pinnacles of the development of human civilization. Diverse in genre and subject matter, Rembrandt's works are imbued with ideas of morality, spiritual beauty and dignity of an ordinary person, understanding of the incomprehensible complexity of his inner world, the versatility of his intellectual wealth, and the depth of his emotional experiences. Hidden in themselves many unsolved mysteries, paintings, drawings and etchings of this remarkable artist captivate with insightful psychological characteristics of the characters, philosophical acceptance of reality, convincing justification of unexpected artistic decisions. His interpretation of stories from the Bible, ancient myths, ancient legends and the past of his native country as really meaningful events in the history of man and society, deeply felt life collisions of specific people opened the way for a free and ambiguous interpretation of traditional images and themes.
The famous muse of Rembrandt Saskia was the youngest daughter of the burgomaster of the city of Leeuwarden. This white-skinned red-haired beauty grew up in a large and very wealthy family. When the girl was 12 years old, the mother of the family died. But the girl still did not know anything to refuse, and when the time came, she became a very enviable bride.
A landmark meeting between the artist and the young lady took place in the house of the girl's cousin, the artist Hendrick van Uylenburg, who was also an antiques dealer. Rembrandt is literally smitten with a girl: luminous delicate skin, golden hair ... Add to this the ability to conduct a casual conversation. Jokingly, she invited a famous painter to paint her portrait. And that's all it needs: Saskia is an ideal model for Rembrandt's subjects in dark and muted tones.
Rembrandt begins to paint a portrait. He meets with Saskia not only at the sessions. Changing his principle, he tries to go on pleasure walks and parties. When the work on the portrait was completed and frequent meetings ceased, Rembrandt understands: this is the one he wants to marry. In 1633, Saskia van Uylenburg became the artist's bride, and on July 22, 1634, the long-awaited wedding took place.
Marriage with Saskia opens the way for the artist to high society. The burgomaster's father left the beloved a colossal inheritance: 40,000 florins. Even on a small part of this amount it was possible to live comfortably for many, many years.
Happy and loving spouses began to equip a common house. Soon it began to resemble a museum. The walls were decorated with engravings by Michelangelo and paintings by Raphael. Saskia agreed to everything, she loved her husband very much. And he, in turn, showered her with jewels, paid for the most exquisite toilets. And, of course, he tried to capture his favorite image. Rembrandt, one might say, became a chronicler of his family life. In the early days of the couple's honeymoon, the famous "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees" was painted.
In 1635, the first son was born in the family, but he did not live long, and this was a terrible blow for the young mother.
For a long time she did not want to part with the body of her son, drove everyone away from her, not letting go of the dead child. The unfortunate mother walked with him around the house, lulling him to sleep and calling him all the tender names that she and her husband used to call Rembrantus in the first happy days.
Rembrandt was aware that, with the exception of hours spent at the easel, he could only live near Saskia. Only with her does he feel like a man: love is the source of life, and he loves only Saskia, and no one else.
After the death of Rembrantus, Saskia lost two more children at birth. Only the fourth child, Titus, who was born in 1641, was able to survive the difficult years of infancy. The boy was named after the late Tizia, Saskia's sister.
However, constant childbirth had a detrimental effect on Saskia's health. The appearance of purely landscape images by the artist in the late 1630s is sometimes explained by the fact that at that time, due to the illness of his wife, Rembrandt spent a lot of time with her outside the city. In the 1640s, the artist writes relatively few portraits.
Saskia van Uylenburg died in 1642. She was only thirty years old. In the coffin, she looked like a living ...
At this time, Rembrandt was working on the famous painting "Night Watch".
Art Museum on the Jodenbreestraat in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam. The museum opened in 1911 in a house that Rembrandt bought at the height of his fame in 1639 and lived in until his bankruptcy in 1656.
For almost 20 years of life (from 1639 to 1658) on Jodenbrestraat, Rembrandt managed to create many beautiful works, become famous, collect a unique collection of paintings and rarities from around the world, acquire students, squander the fortune of his first wife, lose his main customers, make huge debts and put the house under the hammer.
Rembrandt also had to sell off most of his lavish collection of paintings and antiques, including works by great European artists, Roman busts of emperors, and even Japanese battle armor, and move into a more modest home. Having survived both wives and even his own son, Rembrandt died in poverty and loneliness.
Two and a half centuries later, in 1911, by order of Queen Wilhelmina, the house was turned into a museum, which, unlike, for example, the Van Gogh Museum, is, first of all, not an art gallery, but the restored apartments of the great artist: a huge kitchen on on the first floor, the reception room, the master bedroom and the guest bedroom are on the second floor, the largest room of the mansion - the studio - is on the third, and in the attic are the workshops of his students.
It was possible to restore the interior with the help of an inventory of property compiled by a notary when selling all the artist's property at auction, and drawings by the artist himself, on which he displayed his home.
Here you can see his personal belongings, furniture of the 17th century and other interesting exhibits such as a beautiful etching machine or overseas rarities.
The museum exhibits almost all of the engravings of the great Rembrandt - 250 out of 280, magnificent self-portraits of the artist, drawings depicting his parents, wife and son Titus, wonderful views of Amsterdam and its environs.
Even the museum toilet requires special attention: there you can see drawings by Rembrandt on the corresponding theme: a woman squatting in the bushes, and a man standing in a pose characteristic of this institution.
Rembrandt - everything you need to know about the famous Dutch artist updated: November 13, 2017 by: website
It's always hard to talk about what you truly love. You carefully choose the right words, turns of speech, you don’t know where to start ... Therefore, I’ll start with a little revelation: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn- my favorite artist, and I got to know him for a very long time.
As a child - in the Hermitage, with the stories of the professor-father. In his youth - at the lessons of the Moscow Art Theater at the institute, with old slides in a dark audience on long December evenings. In his youth - in amazing Amsterdam, joyfully laughing in the rays of the setting August sun. I have already read hundreds of lectures about Rembrandt, conducted more than a dozen excursions, but still there is a feeling that now you have to plunge into something unknown, huge, incomprehensible.
It's like jumping from a pier into the waters of the sea, where you were for the first time. You don't know if the water is cold there, how many stones are at the bottom. It's anticipation and doubt that makes your hands tremble nervously. There is only one way to defeat this - jump from a running start, feeling your heart pounding and how at one moment the whole world around you is carried away somewhere into the distance, and now you are alone with something completely new ... Well, well! Let's jump, open our eyes and see!
At 27, he had everything an artist could dream of. Fame, fame, money, beloved woman, hundreds of orders. He was considered the best portrait painter in one of the richest cities of his time, in the pearl of northern Europe - Amsterdam.
Yes, there has never been an artist in the world capable of creating this! The portrait had to be perfect, had to brighten up all the shortcomings of a person, but Rembrandt thought differently. His portraits were alive. They conveyed character, there was conflict in them. Before you is a fragment of a portrait of the chief tax collector of the province of Holland, Jan Wtenbogart.
Almost the entire state of the republic passed through the hands of this man. And his clothes - an airy lace collar, a long fur coat made of Russian sable fur - clearly testify to his condition. Now just look at those eyes. You see sadness in them ... And the canvas of Rembrandt's great predecessor is immediately remembered -. Does not the apostle look at Christ with the same expression when he calls him to him? This portrait is the story of a very rich but very unhappy man, and the Dutch painter was able to show it in one frozen moment.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn spent all his free time studying facial expressions. He stood for hours at the mirror and made faces, which he then transferred with charcoal to paper. It was important for him to catch the slightest shades of emotions.
The face of a person, according to the artist, was a mirror of the soul, he realized this long before Oscar Wilde with his “Portrait of Dorian Gray”. But portraits are not the only thing Rembrandt excelled at. His large canvases impress us no less. The game of chiaroscuro, which Caravaggio so developed in his painting, acquires a truly gigantic scope from our master.
He was only 28 years old when he created his first absolute masterpiece. This painting is "Descent from the Cross". You simply cannot pass by this painting in the Hermitage. In one moment, the artist managed to depict the whole essence of Christianity, to tell one of the greatest human stories as honestly and touchingly as possible, in a way that no one did before or after him.
Jerusalem in the background sinks into darkness. The Savior is dead. We see his lifeless body in the center of the picture. This is the moment of the highest despair, no one yet believes in the resurrection. People see only the corpse of a man they loved and worshiped as a god, and the Virgin Mary faints, her skin is deathly pale - she has just lost her only son.
There is one detail on this canvas that is not immediately evident. This is lighting. The source of light is a lantern in the hands of the boy, but the body of Christ and the clothes of the apostle holding him in his arms reflect the light like a mirror. And it is through the light that the true story is told here, the philosophical meaning of the picture is revealed.
The light of a lantern is the light of faith, and what we see in the picture is an initiation into its mystery. One gets the feeling that the very body of the Savior becomes the source of light here. The face of the Mother of God and the shroud, illuminated by the dim light of a candle, stand out from the darkness, in which the body of Christ should be wrapped. On this canvas, Rembrandt first applied the technique that in the last years of his life became the main one in his work.
And now we see how a person who perfectly mastered the technique of writing wrote down all the central figures on the canvas in the smallest detail, but as they moved away from the light, people's faces became more and more blurred, almost indistinguishable. Everything is very simple - the mystery of what is happening passed them by.
However, on this canvas there is another character that is not noticeable at first sight. Despite the fact that he is in the shadows, Rembrandt depicts him very clearly. In the lower right corner of the canvas, from the darkest place, hiding behind the thistle stalks, the Devil in the form of a dog is looking at you and as if asking you a question:
"Are you involved in what's going on?"
Yes, the Dutch master was always not satisfied with the frame of the picture, he dreamed that his canvases would become part of this world, and the viewer would become a direct participant in what was happening. But it was precisely this desire that overthrew him from the heights of glory into the abyss of centuries of oblivion.
Misfortune and oblivion come as swiftly as fortune and glory. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn experienced this first hand in 1642. Of course, there were grievances before that: his children died in infancy. Only one son survived, Titus, born in 1641. But a year later, his beloved wife Saskia, with whom he lived for many years, left this world. And along with this loss, luck also turned away from the artist, turned away at the moment when he created one of his greatest paintings.
One can talk endlessly about Rembrandt's Night Watch. This canvas is so large-scale in its content, so unique in its built composition, that the history of its creation is quite worthy of a separate book, not an article. But, as often happens in life, it was this creation, which subsequently radically changed the entire development of world painting, was rejected by contemporaries.
The customers did not like the way they were depicted, and many of them refused to pay for the artist's work. The most famous painter of the Netherlands has never experienced such humiliation. In one year, Rembrandt lost his beloved wife and failed with his best work. It would seem that this is quite enough, but no, it was only the beginning of the tragedy. Orders became less and less (classicism and the style of ceremonial portraits came into fashion), and soon the artist's property was sold for debts. From a huge mansion in the very center of Amsterdam, he was forced to move to the outskirts of the city, to the Jewish Quarter, where he rented several rooms with his beloved son Titus.
The most interesting thing is that Rembrandt could easily adapt to the latest fashion trends in art and again receive big money for his canvases. But the painter was convinced that he must create a completely new style. In his portraits now were not rich people, but the most ordinary citizens of the city of Amsterdam. Such, for example, is the “Portrait of an Old Jew”.
Rembrandt was not interested in the detailed depiction of all items of clothing, he strove for more abstraction, strove to show the feelings of his characters in perfect accuracy. For his perseverance, he received only suffering and slaps in the face. This happened with his painting "The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis".
Instead of a classic, pompous, outgoing image of patriotism, the old master presented this to the public.
Before us is a picture of a barbarian feast, rude, unsightly. This canvas was almost 300 years ahead of its time, anticipating Expressionist painting. It is not surprising that the master's masterpiece was rejected, and his name was covered with indelible shame. But it is precisely these last eight years of his life, spent in absolute, impenetrable poverty, that are one of the most fruitful periods in Rembrandt's work.
I think that I will write about the paintings of that period, including his The Return of the Prodigal Son, in a separate article. Now I want to talk about something else. I was always amazed how Rembrandt could work and develop his talent when the blows of fate rained down on him from everywhere. It could not go on like this for a long time, and the artist foresaw it.
The final blow is always applied to the most painful place. They were the only son of Titus - a very sickly boy, similar to his dead mother. It was him that Rembrandt depicted then most often: both in the form of an angel in the painting “Matthew and the Angel”, and reading, and in various costumes. Perhaps the painter thought that with the help of his talent he would somehow be able to delay the inevitable... He failed...
In my opinion, "Portrait of Titus in a monastic cassock" is one of the most soulful paintings by Rembrandt. All her father's love, all the talent of a painter, manifested itself in her. In all these rough strokes, in this darkness advancing on the young man from the left, in the plants already surrounding his body, one thing stands out - the pale face of the artist's son with lowered eyes full of humility.
Titus died in 1668, Rembrandt survived him by only a year.
He was dying on the outskirts of Amsterdam, absolutely alone, having gained everything in this life and lost everything. They forgot about his canvases for a long time... But 150 years have passed, and other artists have already heard what the master was trying to tell his contemporaries, choosing his own unique path instead of fame and money.
