Rembrandt; a Study of His Life and Work, B
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A/ b £<T3 fi iff &Z7 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY •' V--'' BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1 89 1 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Fine Arts Cornell University Library ND 653.R28B87 Rembrandt; a study of his life and work, b 3 1924 016 804 738 DATE DUE I "inteoinu.i.a. The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924016804738 REMBRANDT THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL St. Petersburg Frontispiece REMBRANDT A STUDY OF HIS LIFE AND WORK BY G. BALDWIN BROWN, M.A. PROFESSOR OF FINE ART IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH LONDON: DUCKWORTH AND CO. NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1907 X a h.'2.\% \% O, All rights reserved Printed by Baixantyne &• Co. Limited Tavistock Street, London \ CONTENTS CHAPTER I REMBRANDT'S WORK, AND THE METHOD OF ITS STUDY Rembrandt's artistic output. The chief modern writings upon his art and his life. Plan of the present study. The questions to be asked about an artist: the general position of his art, his personal life in relation to his work, the extent and range of his productions, their aesthetic value. These questions as applied in the case of Rembrandt : how the book seekB to answer them. The general impression of Rembrandt's genius Pp. 1-12 CHAPTER II THE PLACE OF REMBRANDT IN MODERN PAINTING The advance towards modern painting in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Futility of Italian 'Naturalism.' Elsheimer brings northern painting to Rome about 1600. Elsheimer's style : his indirect influence on Rembrandt. Rembrandt and the demo- cratic tendency of modern painting. Rembrandt as an impressionist. Meaning of this term in connection with the act of seeing. The ideals of impressionist painting. Rembrandt as representative of modern art Pp. 13-26 CHAPTER III THE SURROUNDINGS OF REMBRANDT Holland in the seventeenth century : its position in Europe and in the world at large. Wealth and importance of Amsterdam. Sir Thomas Overbury's description of the Dutch people early in the century. Wealth of the country as leading to the encouragement of art. The dealers. The demand for portraits, both single and in ' groups. The Dutch Corporation ' pictures. Influence of religion upon art. Rembrandt as. Protestant and Mennonite. Character of his religious paintings. The Jewish community at Amsterdam and Rembrandt's relation to it. The literary culture of the age. Classicism in literature and in art. Rembrandt's use of the . , allegorical style , , , Pp. 27-42 :: vi CONTENTS CHAPTER IV THE EARLY LIFE AND FORTUNES OF REMBRANDT, 1606-1642 Portrait-studies ot Leyden in 1606 : Rembrandt's home and family. his relatives, and of himself, at the Rembrandt's early years : his schooling : did he study University? His knowledge of the Bible. Rembrandt's first teachers. His early studies as described by Constantin Huygens. Rembrandt's settlement in Amsterdam. His marriage with Saskia van Uylenburch. His worldly prosperity : his pupils. The house in the Breestraat and the artistic treasures it contained, Rembrandt as collector. Illness and death of Saskia : the terms of her will Pp. 43-75 CHAPTER V REMBRANDT'S LATER LIFE, 1642-1669 Change in Rembrandt's life and fortunes after the death of Saskia. His relations with the nurse of Titus : and with Hendrickje Stoffels. Why Rembrandt did not marry Hendrickje. Her use to him as a model. Titus van Rijn, and his appearance in Rembrandt's works. Financial troubles arising from the purchase of the house in the Breestraat. Rembrandt's bankruptcy, and the sale of his collections. Effect of this upon the artist. Alleged visit to England. Partner- ship of Hendrickje and Titus. The new home on the Rozengracht. Depreciated value of the artist's work. Deaths of Hendrickje and Titus. The last days Pp. 76-109 CHAPTER VI REMBRANDT'S WORK IN DIFFERENT FIELDS: THE DRAWINGS Rembrandt as draughtsman, etcher, and painter : how his works in the different fields are related. General character of the drawings of Rembrandt : their number reproductions of them : materials employed. Questions of authen- ticity and date. Studies of animals, especially lions. The drawings of landscape the Chatsworth sketch-book. Copies of Indian miniatures. Studies for portraits. Compositions from classical and sacred story. Good motives not afterwards carried out. rfrawings actually carried out in etchings and pictures. Genre subjects ; studies of beggars : of children. Titus in the drawings. Studies of the male figure : of the female nude Pp. 1 10-146 ; CONTENTS vii CHAPTER VII THE ETCHED WORK OP REMBRANDT The processes of engraving. The nature of etching. The question of states.' Catalogues and reproductions of Rembrandt's etchings the question of genuineness ; the chronology of the etchings. The early self-studies : later self-portraits. Studies of beggars. First essays in the nude. The Saskia etchings. Early religious pieces and the 'Annunciation to the Shepherds.' Etchings of 1641-51. The landscapes: the portrait-etchings: the later nudes. Figure-subjects from the Old and New Testaments. The ' Death of ' ' ' ' ' Mary : the Broad Presentation : the 100 Florin Plate ' : Christ as Teacher.' The latest religious pieces. The technique of the etchings : use of the etched line, of the dry- point, of the graver. Eembrandt as printer. Examples of his use of the various technical methods .... Pp. 147-198 CHAPTER VIII KEMBRANDT'S EARLIER PAINTINGS, 1627-1642 Number of Rembrandt's pictures. The portrait study the most charac- teristic form ; its importance and interest. The portrait proper. Rembrandt as painter of 'Corporation' pieces. His single por- traits : Were they good likenesses 1 Subject-pictures. Genre pieces hardly represented. Pictures from religious and classical story. Rembrandt's relation in these to his predecessors. His classical designs. Differences of treatment in the figure-pieces. Points noticed in design and in lighting. Rembrandt's treatment of landscape. His still-life pieces : his grisailles. Chronological survey of Rembrandt's pictorial activity. His relation to his teachers. The earliest dated pictures. His first essays in the nude. The Hague 'Presentation' of 163 1. The early Amsterdam portraits. Rembrandt's poses, his self-portrait of 1640. The Lanckoronski Girl. Saskia portraits. Religious pieces : the Munich ' Passion' series, etc. Female nudes, 'Susannah' and ' Bathsheba ' . » ' Pp. 199-234 CHAPTER IX REMBRANDT'S LATER PAINTINGS, C. 1642-1669 The problem of the Corporation piece : the 'Lesson on Anatomy ' of 1632 compared with the 'Night Watch' of 1642. Analysis and discussion of the latter picture. Has it been cut down 1 The landscapes as characteristic of the central period of Rem- brandt's career. ' ' Vlll CONTENTS question » Rembrandt's self-portraits, especially as bearing on the of the effect on his art of his misfortunes. ' General The later portraits and portrait-studies. The Syndics. characteristics of Rembrandt's work in the last decade. Pp. 235-263 CHAPTER X REMBRANDT AS ARTIST : CONCEPTION AND TREATMENT the_ as *Faults and shortcomings, Amateurishness : meaning of term expressing Rembrandt's experimental vein and occasional un- certainty. His hesitation in the matter of lighting. Effect on his art of his solitary life. Defects in Rembrandt's treatment of the human form. His female nudes. The artistic qualities of Rembrandt's painted work in general. The intellectual and moral elements in his art. His appreciation of character. Depth and seriousness of his insight. His religious compositions. His treatment in its various aspects of the life of Christ. His final word in the ' Return of the Prodigal Pp. -264-292 CHAPTER XI vt REMBRANDT AS ARTIST: TREATMENT AND HANDLING The relation of an artist's execution to the rest of his work. Rem- brandt as an executant in oils. Some comparisons. The chronology of Rembrandt's technique. A general develop- ment but much variety within the periods. Prevailing hues at different epochs. Rembrandt's manipulation. Flemish practice and Dutch. Some Flemish traits in Rembrandt's technique. ' His normal handling. Opinions of old writers on his colour and manipulation. Selected pictures by Rembrandt studied as representing his artistic statement as a whole. The ' Labourers in the Vineyard ' (St. ' ' ' Petersburg) ; Danae ' (ibid.) ; Bathsheba ' (Louvre) ; Civilis ' ' (Stockholm) ; the Family ' (Brunswick) ; Jacob Blessing 1 ' ' (Cassel) ; Hendrickje (Salon Carr6, Louvre) ; Jan Six ' (Six Collection, Amsterdam) ; the 'Syndics' (Amsterdam). Concluding word Pp. 293-327 INDICES I. THE WORKS OF REMBRANDT . , .Pp. 329-335 II. ETCHINGS ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS OF BARTSCH * P- 336 III. GENERAL INDEX Pp. 337-341 ILLUSTRATIONS To face. plate page The Return of the Prodigal. St. Petersburg Frontispiece i. Hendrickje Stoffels at a Window. Berlin . 10 2. Simeon, or The Presentation in the Temple. The Hague . .18 3. Pen drawings of a Lame Beggar. British Museum . 24 4. The Hog (etching), B. 157 . 26 (a. Distant View of Amsterdam (etching), B. 210 .\ b. The Gold-Weigher's Country Seat (etching), l 28 B. 234 • J 6. Abraham Francen, Dealer in Works of Art (etching), B. 273 32 7. The Mennonite Preacher, Anslo. Berlin . 36 8. Part of Plan of Leyden, of 1578 . 46 (a. Rembrandt's Mother (etching), B. 354 | \b. Drawing of Baby in Cradle. Heseltine Collection) 10. The Youthful Rembrandt (self-portrait). The Hague 52 11. Rembrandt with Saskia on his Knee. Dresden . 72 12. The Holy Family. St. Petersburg, 1645 . 82 13. Rembrandt in Working Dress (self-portrait, draw- ing). Heseltine Collection ..... 84 14. Study from Hendrickje Stoffels. Louvre, Salon Carre 86 b x ILLUSTRATIONS To/ace plate W 88 15. Drawing of Seated Youth, Titus van Rijn. Stockholm 16. The Syndics. Amsterdam 9° British 17. An Elephant (drawing in black chalk). Museum "6 18. View of Omval (etching), B. 209 . • .124 19. Christ Mocked by the Soldiers (drawing).