Rembrandt

World of Art

by Christopher White

Rembrandt is among the few outstanding artists of universal appeal. Yet he remains an elusive figure, too often the subject of romantic interpretation. Christopher White, author of a number of highly regarded books on Rembrandt, firmly bases his study on the most thorough and up-to-date scholarly research, and builds up a sensitive, accurate and fully-rounded portrait of his life and work. The author describes the radiant happiness of Rembrandt's marriage, tragically cut short by the death of his wife, and discusses the catastrophe of his bankruptcy. He suggests the psychological factors that may have awakened Rembrandt's sudden interest in landscape, and sympathetically delineates the last decade of the artist's life, in which he retreated into the private world of his imagination.

Genres: Art, Art History, Biography, Nonfiction, History

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rudi]

Kjøpte denne i sommerferien da jeg visste at vi skulle innom Rijksmuseum i Amsterdam, men jeg var litt optimistisk da Rembrandt fremdeles var i 20-åra da vi kom til museet. Det ga meg likevel nok til å kunne få ekstra utbytte av besøket, og jeg dro jo kjensel på flere verk etterhvert som jeg fullførte boka. Det er en ganske rett frem biografi, og den holder seg nøkternt til sak. Jeg fikk et godt og (tilsynelatende) omfattende bilde av Rembrandt som person, verkene hans og hva som har gjort ham til en kjent kunstner. Det er ikke alltid jeg klarer å se det forfatteren ser i bildene, da. Et maleri som jeg synes var litt skuffende på museet pga. karakterene var så uttrykksløse, omtaler forfatteren som "work of utmost simplicity and represents one of the greatest expressions of the tender fusion of spiritual and physical love in the history of painting." ("The jewish bride" heter bildet). Jeg vet ikke jeg. Men ellers gjorde han greit greie for kvalitetene til maleria.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read (or rather skimmed) this title as part of a post-graduate course all about the life and works of Rembrandt. It's a comprehensive collection of his most notable works and life achievements in a relatively small book. Unless I had to read it for this class I'm not sure I would have picked it up or continued with it on my own. It's a very dry description of his life and works, and leans more toward a textbook and less towards a biography. While Rembrandt is a celebrated master and deserves that description, I didn't really enjoy reading about his life and works in this text. Additionally the images of his works are all in black and white (cheaper for printing purposes, I'm sure) but the book tries do discuss his use of warm vs. cool color palettes and the moods created with his use of light, which is lost when looking at a xeroxed copy of a master work.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Rembrandt includes information about the artist as well as an exploration of his changing style and focus through out his life. It is packed with over 170 illustrations 16 of which are in color. Over all I enjoyed reading this book. Though, I would only suggest it to someone who is really interested in finding out more about Rembrandt.

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

--- "To acquire a harmonizing element, the previously plain background become interesting in themselves and are constantly varied in shape, colour and above all chiaroscuro. The entire surface of the picture is skilfully devised as a background to the portrayal of a thinking human being." (White: 54)
--- "Rembrandt in his search for authenticity may have come to consider these figures as representing the heirs of the people of the Old Testament in the same way he employed Jews as models for the New Testament. (Unlike other artists, Rembrandt portrays Christ as a Jew.)" (White: 176)
--- "Increasingly the artist came to concentrate on the essence of such themes as love, penitence and forgiveness, which become the fundamental subject instead of the incidents of the particular story in hand." (170)

This book is a general introduction to Rembrandt's life and work. Being a general introduction means certain issues were not analysed in as much detail as I would have liked, including how his representations followed no recognizable pictorial tradition. The book shows how different Rembrandt was to his contemporaries and I loved the fact that illustrations of artworks by Rembrandt and contemporaries are in some cases included to make us see the comparison better.

However, illustrations were for the most part in black and white, which made it difficult to fully appreciate some of the descriptions made by the author. The book has helped me see Rembrandt far beyond his paintings of people or Biblical episodes. However, I felt the author ignored certain issues that may have explained some of Rembrandt's works, including the popularity of going to see capital punishments or the arrival of Portuguese Jewish families.

Also, the reasons as for why Rembrandt painted definite landscapes sounded simplistic to me. Compared to other World of Art books in the collection, this one felt too short.

[Marie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot about Rembrandt’s life with a bit about his painting technique. This book is just what I needed and expected: an introductory immersion in 17th century Holland through the life of this Flemish painter, where a new Republic was established, different religions cohabitated together, the human anatomy was discovered and disease was rampant (as shown by the successive deaths of Rembrandt’s life).

Instead of teaching dogmatically the classics of perspective and human proportions to his students, Rembrandt emphasised the showcasing of people’s real expressions without romanticising or exaggerating them like many court Flemish painters. This philosophy encouraged his students to find their own style, but which could also explain why none became famous in the test of time.

So much so that was is striking in some of his commissions is that the expensive clothing that his patrons wear are more emphasised than their facial expressions, by nature human. This effect is truly captured through the dark light he uses in most of his paintings and which could be explained by the influence of the religion he was brought into: calvinism.

Although he ended his life in heavy debt, it seems as though Rembrandt truly lived a happy and passionate life filled with love (his wives and children), painting, and expensive goods.

[Tim Newey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rembrandt Van-Rijn. 1606 - 1669. "Lovely Account"?! - "Awesome"!!

[Cibernetes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book it's a good introduction to life of Rembrandt, but I think that need more pictures about paints of Rembrandt.

[Alessandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense and interesting book, but it predates modern scholarship. There may be some changes in what is generally understood to be Rembrandt's work.

[Akrabar · Rating 3 out of 5]

would liked to have more pictures!