Essay on Self-Portraits of Rembrandt
Rembrandt van Rijn was one of the prominent artists of the 17th century from Netherlands, who had made a considerable contribution in the development of Western European art. He had his original style and technique of painting. From a very young age, he had a number of followers and artists, who wanted him to teach them. At the same time, the professional career and life of Rembrandt was full of controversies. On the one hand, he was a genius artist, while, on the other hand, he stumbled in poverty and could not overcome his financial troubles, but for a short period in his life. The beginning and the late life of Rembrandt were marked by his severe struggle for survival and maintenance of respectable social standing. At the same time, changes in his personal life and artistic career mirrored in his works, especially self-portraits. At this point, it is possible to refer to two paintings created by Rembrandt at different age: one, when he was young, and another, when he was in his 60s and approaching fast the end of his life (See App. Pic. 1 and Pic. 2). The difference in the physical appearance of Rembrandt is very significant but the author had managed to preserve the style and polished it making his original style close to perfectness. In addition, the artist had preserved the firm and steady look of his eyes that he carried through virtually all his self-portraits. Therefore, the two self-portraits mentioned above reveal the internal condition of Rembrandt and changes that had occurred to him in the course of his life.
Rembrandt’s self-portraits mirror the evolution of the artist and changes in his life. At the self-portrait of young Rembrandt, the artist depicts himself as a young and prospective man, who looks forward and expects to reach ambitious goals, which he has probably set. His face radiates certainty in his ability to succeed. At the same time, he demonstrates his readiness to work hard to overcome difficulties and obstacles, which he may face on his way to success. The key feature of his painting is the certitude of the artist and youthful optimism, which he radiates.
The self-portrait of a young Rembrandt mirrors his calmness and self-confidence. At the same time, he is just on his way to glory and wealth. He has not gained the public approval but he is rather acquainted with the early success than is absolutely unknown artist. He probably has reached certain progress in his career as his posture and glance reveals that he has something to be proud of (Peacock, 2006). At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that Rembrandt originated from a poor family and he had to work hard to reach success. However, he was a talented artist, who had chosen a different way of learning art and painting compared to the overwhelming majority of his contemporaries. Traditionally, young and prospective painters and artists traveled to Italy, where they could learn the latest trends in the development of art since Northern Italy was the cradle of the Renaissance in Europe. Therefore, many Dutch painters moved Southward, to Italy, where they studied art and new styles in painting. However, Rembrandt refused from studying art and painting in Italy. Instead, he was certain that he could succeed and develop his own style on the ground of achievements of Dutch artists. He studied in details the art of his country and brought in his innovative ideas (Calabrese, 2006). Thus, he created the original, unique style of his own, based on the Dutch school of art and painting.
No wonder, Rembrandt gain the fame fast. By the age of 25, he was already a renowned artist, who has his own school and students. He probably foresaw this early success judging from his posture and face on the self-portrait of young Rembrandt. At the age of 25, he was a popular artist and his students admired him. At any rate, he was definitely the leader of Dutch painting at the time. Hence, probably his certitude and some self-assurance that can traced from traits of his face and from his firm and slightly glittering look.
At the same time, this self-portrait uncovers ambitions of the artist. He originated from a poor family but he did not seem to live in poverty. He was bold and ready to work hard to succeed. As he moved to Amsterdam in pursue of wealth and better social position, he married successfully a wealthy woman and took a solid social position. The self-portrait of young Rembrandt implies that the artist was ready to take bold steps in his life. In reality, he moved to Amsterdam because he had better business opportunities there. While living in Leiden, he could not keep progressing because leading artists and their patrons lived in Amsterdam and larger cities. Hence, Leiden laid the burden of provinciality on the artist and he moved to Amsterdam, where his career spurred again, while his financial position after the marriage had improved consistently.
However, steadily his life slipped toward poverty and stagnation. After the death of his wife, his financial position has started to deteriorate consistently and he had to sell many of his works and art collections to earn for living. All these tragic events that occurred to Rembrandt may be traced in one of the late self-portraits (See App. Pic. 2), which mirror profound changes that have occurred to the artist. He is aging and slipping to poverty. He is shattered financially but his eyes are as firm and steady as they used to be in the youth. He personifies calmness, in spite of all hardships he has had to pass through in the course of his life. He is still firm and steady. At any rate, his look is as firm and steady as it used to be in the self-portrait of young Rembrandt.
However, personal tragedy and financial problems had left a deep footprint on the later self-portrait of old Rembrandt. The artist suffered the loss of his wife and two children. His financial position deteriorated (Doy, 2004). The financial downturn had become an unbearable burden for Rembrandt, because the artist had already accustomed to the wealthy and stable life and he had not been prepared to struggle for survival again as he used to do in his youth. Hence, probably the sadness appears in his traits and posture. He probably could not afford the burden of financial difficulties and he was physically exhausted that can be clearly seen from his face. The artist was growing older and probably he felt being too old. In actuality, he had the painter block that definitely caused not only financial problems but also creative ones, because he could not create new works of art which could inspire and motivate him to carry on working over and over again. Instead, his artistic career was in decline and so was his life, while the self-portrait of aging Rembrandt mirrors these trends in his life.
One of the main features of Rembrandt’s self-portraits is the skillful use of light and shadow that revive his self-portraits and make them look very realistic. Remarkably, the artist used identical strategies of painting, although he shifted the light and shadow in the two paintings. In the self-portrait of young Rembrandt, the artist used the lighter colors to stress posture of the artist and to stress his youth and great expectations. His shoulders are broad and he holds his head up. In the self-portrait of older Rembrandt, the artist puts the light over the head. In such a way, the artist shows clearly his old face and grayish hair. The artist attempts to convey the wisdom he has acquired in the course of the time. He wanted to show that he has changed and he suffered a lot throughout his life but he is still calm and certain in his future. Such play of light and shadow is very important for his self-portraits as well as other portraits and this technique is the characteristic of his style.
Two self-portraits, which depict the young and old Rembrandt, help to understand the evolution of the artist. At the same time, the self-portrait of the old Rembrandt is considered as one of the masterpieces created by the artist and as one of the best of his works (Bond & Woodall, 2006). The later self-portrait manifests the maturity of Rembrandt as a genius artist, who had already reached a tremendous success and polished his professional skills. His technique and style are virtually perfect and the self-portrait reveals that Rembrandt remained devoted to his own style throughout his life. At the same time, he worked hard on the improvement of his style and his skills as well.
The artist pays a particular attention to his eyes and look. His eyes are calm and steady in both paintings that reveals the strength of his character and his boldness. He is certain in his strength and talent but the portrait of old Rembrandt reveals his awareness of the upcoming end of his life but he still stays calm and ready to meet his last day. His eyes and look seem to remain unchanged, although the difference in the age of the artist is very significant (Woods-Marsden, 1998). Such permanence in his look and eyes reveals the unchangeable character of the artist. Probably he suffered from poverty and loss of close relatives but he had never given in. He kept working, although he definitely lacked inspiration for his new works.
The two paintings have different implications and meanings. The portrait of young Rembrandt mirrors great expectations and firm belief in his success (Koerner, 1997). His head is up and firm look prove that he sees great future in face of him. The artist was just at the beginning of his life and artistic career. He had great ambitions and inspiration for his creative work. He probably had a lot of ideas to implement in his paintings and he had the entire life ahead of him.
On the contrary, the portrait of older Rembrandt shows his readiness to die after the life full of success and failures. He seems to be weakening as the artist as well as he is weakening physically. The artist seems to be disappointed because he had reached the high level in his professional development but he definitely faces considerable problems with inspiration and every new work he creates is more and more difficult to paint (Chapman, 1990). At the same time, he has to struggle with his sufferings caused the death of his wife and children, on the one hand, and he has to tackle his financial problems, on the other.
At the same time, the self-portrait of old Rembrandt reveals his social downfall from the height of the wealthy and popular artist to the position of the impoverished artist, who has to sell everything he has to carry on living and to avoid starvation. His clothes are cheap and very modest, while the early self-portrait of young Rembrandt reveals his efforts to look fashionable and stylish. The change in the appearance of Rembrandt mirrors changes that have occurred to him in the course of his life.
Nevertheless, his portraits and self-portraits always remained popular. Patrons could be interested in purchase of Rembrandt’s self-portraits because they marked great achievements of the artist in painting portraits. Traditionally, self-portraits were extremely difficult to create and a few artists could create really successful self-portraits. Rembrandt was one of those few, who have managed to create successful and appealing self-portraits. The artist has created his portraits skillfully and many patrons and connoisseurs of art believed that the artist uncovers his soul, his internal world through his self-portraits. In such a way, they expected to understand better his paintings and creative work along with the actual meaning of his paintings. Therefore, patrons could be attracted by self-portraits of Rembrandt, as works that uncovered the internal world of the artist.
In addition, patrons could be interested in works of popular artist, whose name and works were renowned throughout Europe. In such a way, the artist’s self-portrait were special works of art for them. They could use them to show their proximity to the artist and their appreciation of his art. Many patrons were fans of Rembrandt’s works and they attempted to show their respect to his art and skills purchasing his self-portraits.
Thus, Rembrandt’s self-portraits comprise an integral part of his legacy. Rembrandt had made a considerable contribution in the development of European art, while his self-portraits are masterpieces of the Dutch painting of the time. In this regard, the two self-portraits discussed above comprise an important part of Rembrandt’s legacy. They are not just mere works of art. Instead, they are works of art that uncover profound changes and transformations that have occurred to the artist in the course of his life. The young and prospective artist, depicted in the early self-portrait, is replaced by the aging and failing artist, who suffers from personal problems and financial difficulties. Nevertheless, each painting is worth attention because both self-portraits bear style and techniques which were the characteristic of Rembrandt’s work, while his style was unique and created by the artist on the ground of achievements of Dutch artists.
