Rembrandt Van Rijn – Ages 8 – 9 | Online Edition

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

Step 1 - Introducing the Rembrandt van Rijn Slideshow Guide

MOTIVATION BEGIN READING HERE Do you enjoy dressing up for Halloween? Part of the fun of Halloween, besides the candy, is pretending to be someone you’re not! When you were small, do you remember having fun dressing up in different clothes or costumes? And if you had a good imagination, you probably made silly faces to go along with your costume. You probably even have some photographs of you making funny faces that you have saved and make you laugh.

Our artist today loved to dress up in costumes and make silly faces. But he lived about 400 years ago, before the invention of the camera, so instead of taking a photograph of himself, he would paint a self-portrait or do sketches of himself that he turned into etchings. Today we will meet our master artist through his self-portraits. I would like to introduce you to Rembrandt. Click Start Lesson To Begin

1. SELF-PORTRAIT LOOKING OVER SHOULDER

Can you imagine young Rembrandt trying out different expressions in a mirror and then doing this self-portrait? As a young man he probably had not thought of showing himself to future generations through his self-portraits. He was like an actor practicing before a mirror. He wanted to be able to express feelings in his paintings, feelings that the viewer could see and understand right away when they looked at his work.

Rembrandt had a strong and bold personality, and it shows in his self-portraits. Guess how many self-portraits Rembrandt did during his lifetime. He did more than 90 self- portraits! We can learn a lot about him by seeing how he looked at himself from youth to old age. Rembrandt’s self-portraits become quite an autobiography of his life. To follow his explorations of his own face is like reading a book and gaining an understanding of this man and his life.

Rembrandt studied his face intently to see how his eyebrows came together and how his jaw pushed forward. Can you give me a word to describe the expression you see here? (ANGRY, OUTRAGED) Would “ferocious” be a good description? (YES) This ferocious expression fascinated him and he quickly sketched what he saw in the mirror. He started his visual autobiography at a young age. Why? He was probably simply in need of a model. No one else was available. His father was working in the mill, his mother was at church, and his sister was in the kitchen. Besides, with himself as the model, he could do anything he pleased. Perhaps a friend or relative would not cooperate or might feel embarrassed at striking strange poses or making silly faces.

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

This self-portrait is an ETCHING. Drawing on a thin metal sheet with acid makes an etching. That acid eats into the metal and creates lines. Ink is then rolled over the metal plate and fills the lines. Paper is pressed onto the plate and the result is a print called an ETCHING. Rembrandt is as famous for his etchings as he is for his paintings. In just one year he made 20 etchings of his face! Click Next To Change Slide

2. THE WINDMILL

Rembrandt’s father worked in a windmill like the one you see in this etching by Rembrandt. Windmills are very common in Holland. People either lived next to them or even in them. For what are windmills used? (GRIND GRAIN OR PUMP WATER OUT OF LAND) In your art activity you will be drawing a windmill in a Dutch village.

All his life Rembrandt’s deepest ambition was to show human feelings with his art. This at first meant simply making faces like you see here… laughter, amazement, scowling, snarling. But as he grew older, he abandoned the outrageous expressions and feelings, and looked closely at himself with a sad and thoughtful eye. This next self-portrait shows us that change, twenty years later. Click Next To Change Slide

3. SELF-PORTRAIT (WITH EARRING)

Rembrandt was forty-four years old in this portrait and was a very popular artist by this time. Two years after completing the “ferocious” self-portrait, Rembrandt decided to set off for the big city of Amsterdam. In what country is the city of Amsterdam? (HOLLAND) So he packed up his paints and canvasses and set off for Amsterdam. He rented a studio beside a canal. Amsterdam was a growing city in 1632. Along her canals were many fine houses. Almost every day rich citizens came to his door asking him to paint their portrait. Rembrandt painted perfect likenesses of his clients, and in two years he became the most popular painter in Amsterdam. He was only twenty-eight years old, as order after order poured in, and soon he became as rich as his clients. What did he buy with all that money?

He bought plumed hats, embroidered coats, and pieces of antique armor. His self- portraits at this age show an artist all decked out in rich costumes looking very confident as Holland’s most successful painter. - Click Next To Change Slide

4. SELF-PORTRAIT OF ARTIST WITH HAT

What differences can you point out from the last self-portrait? (OLDER, SERIOUS, TIRED, DEPRESSED) When this was painted, Rembrandt was fifty-four years old, and he died

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION just nine years later. To know why he looks so serious and depressed, I will tell you some of the events that happened to Rembrandt. What could have happened to turn the bold young man into this sad old man? We will discover those answers as we look at his life through his artwork.

Not only did he enjoy dressing up himself, he also liked to dress his portrait clients up in costumes he kept in his studio. Try to guess what kind of costume this lady is wearing. Click Next To Change Slide

5. FLORA

Look carefully at what you see held in her dress and what decorates her hat. (FLOWERS, LEAVES) What season of the year do you associate with green leaves and pretty flowers first blooming? (SPRING)

This portrait is showing a good friend portraying Flora, Goddess or Queen of Spring. Notice the flowers in her right hand taken from the ones in her skirt, which she holds like an apron. She seems to offer them to someone beyond the canvas at the left. This is one of Rembrandt’s rare PROFILE portraits. Can you turn your head sideways and show me your profile? Very good!

Look closely and tell me what part of the painting shows great detail and is touched richly with golden light. (HER SLEEVES AND DRESS) The golden light that shines on her face and clothing is one of the trademarks of Rembrandt’s style of painting. What do you notice about the lighting of the background? (DARK) Rembrandt skillfully uses LIGHT as contrasted with SHADOW.

It’s fairly easy to identify a painting by Rembrandt, because he developed a painting style using light and dark that is unlike that of any other artist. There is even a special kind of lighting in photography where objects in shadow appear to glow with a golden light. It is called “Rembrandt Lighting.” Let’s look for that “Rembrandt Lighting” in this next group portrait. Click Next To Change Slide

6. THE NIGHT WATCH

Do you see that special “Rembrandt Lighting.” (YES) Where do you see that “golden light?” (TWO MEN IN FRONT, LITTLE GIRL IN WHITE, OTHER FACES IN BACKGROUND) He brings that special glowing light out of the shadows to HIGHLIGHT those parts you just pointed out. This painting is titled The Night Watch, and is one of Rembrandt’s famous masterpieces.

In the year 1640, eighteen members of Captain Cocq’s militia company collected money to have their portraits painted. Since they wanted an excellent portrait, they decided to hire

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION the most popular portrait painter in Amsterdam. Who would that be? (REMBRANDT) They had seen his work on other group portraits, and they could tell exactly who each person in the picture was meant to be. Can you imagine how excited they were as they were going to Rembrandt’s studio to pose? Can you see the soldiers all getting their uniforms ready and polishing their boots? As soldiers they stood nice and straight and were patient as Rembrandt worked on their sketches. I’m sure they stood in nice, neat rows so Rembrandt could see them. When the painting was finished almost two years later, it was not at all what they expected! They had waited expectedly for two long years, and they were not happy about what they saw!

Let’s see if we can discover why this painting surprised and even shocked these army men of Holland.

• If you had paid the artist and posed for him many tiring hours, how would you feel if your face didn’t even show? Can you find someone in Rembrandt’s painting with an arm across his face? (MAN ON RIGHT) Good! • Remembering this is a company of army men, why would there be a little girl?! No one could understand why Rembrandt added sixteen imaginary figures to the COMPOSITION, and made many of them, like the little girl, more noticeable then the other men in the company who had paid Rembrandt. In this painting, can you see the highlighted girl Rembrandt added? • When they posed, the company of men all dressed in their matching uniforms and tried to look distinguished. What did the artist change in this painting? (ALL DRESSED DIFFERENTLY, EVERYONE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT, DISORDERLY, STRANGE EXPRESSIONS ON FACES, ETC.)

Rembrandt was apparently bored with the idea of a typical group portrait, so he decided to do something different. Instead of painting the men standing and looking at him, he chose to show them in action at the moment they had received their marching orders. The scene is one of total confusion. Can you point out a man who looks puzzled? (MAN IN BLACK IN FRONT) Everyone is moving in different directions. The whole group looks disorganized or confused!

Do you think the militia group ever hung this portrait? Yes, it was hung in the Amsterdam town hall, even though the reactions were very mixed. But Rembrandt’s reputation suffered, and his work became less popular.

The painting hung in a dark corner of the Regiment Hall for many years. It became so blackened by tobacco smoke and dirt that people named it The Night Watch. When it was thoroughly cleaned in 1947, the painting was dramatically restored to its early brightness. But the title The Night Watch has remained. Rembrandt’s original title is lost to history, but his interesting painting with its mysteries still fascinates us to this day. Click Next To Change Slide

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

7. SYNDICS OF DRAPER’S GUILD

To what kind of group do you think these men belong? (BUSINESSMEN, MEN IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY) They are five board members from the cloth makers union, and their director asked Rembrandt to paint a group portrait. So Rembrandt put aside his self-portraits and pictures of Bible stories and set a fresh canvas on his easel.

Can you find which man is the servant and not a board member? (MAN BEHIND OTHERS) What was your clue? (NO HAT) At whom are the men looking? (THE ARTIST, OR YOU) By painting it this way, we get the feeling that we have interrupted their meeting, and they all look up to see who is entering the room. Doesn’t it seem that they will soon turn back to their work? Rembrandt cleverly involves the viewer in this way.

In what ways is this different from the group portrait, The Night Watch? (NO ACTION, EVERYONE’S FACE IS CLEARLY SEEN)

What did Rembrandt highlight in this painting? (MEN’S FACES, RED TABLECLOTH, WALL) How else did the painter create contrast? (BLACK CLOTHING, WHITE COLLARS)

Do you think this was well-received by the cloth makers union? (YES) You are right. The members all heartily approved of their portrait. Why? (ALL FACES SHOW, ORGANIZED, DRESSED ALIKE, SERIOUS)

Rembrandt’s next order for a group portrait is very unusual, and may shock you. The order came from a doctor. He called on Rembrandt at his studio and asked him to paint him lecturing to seven members of the college of surgeons. Can you guess what the shock will be in the painting? Click Next To Change Slide

8. THE ANATOMY LESSON OF DR. TULP

Twice a week the doctor lectured on anatomy while his students gathered around him to watch him skillfully dissect a body. In Rembrandt’s day, anatomy lessons were so popular that fashionable men and women came to watch the lessons. Many doctors paid artists to paint pictures of them. Is this how an anatomy lesson would be taught today? (NO) Many doctors became sick, because they did not know they should wear masks and gloves to protect themselves from dangerous germs. Click Next To Change Slide

9. SELF-PORTRAIT (AS AN ARTIST)

It seemed more and more that Rembrandt was having trouble pleasing his clients. There developed a change in Dutch tastes in art. The wealthy citizens developed a fondness for

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION showiness and elegance. They turned away from an artist who seemed “dark.” His art demanded that they devote some thought to their viewing, and most people were not willing to do that.

Rembrandt refused to change his style, even though he needed the money. His wife had died, and soon after, his small son died also. Rembrandt plunged into his work to forget his loneliness. So he hardly noticed that the rich people of Amsterdam began to avoid him, all but the bill collectors, who arrived steadily at his door. He spent money recklessly until he became penniless. He was bankrupt. He lost his home and all his belongings. These were dark days for Rembrandt, and all the tragedies are reflected in his face in this self-portrait painted six years before he died.

He was going blind by this time, his curly hair had grown white, his cheeks puffy, but his expression was calm. He was all alone with only his paint supplies. He had nothing left but his art… no family, no home, and no belongings. After his death, a lawyer made a list of his possessions; they consisted of a few canvases, clothing, ten caps and one Bible. But he left behind so much more in all his beautiful paintings, etchings, drawings and sketches. Click Next To Begin Quiz

6 REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

REVIEW GAME

Let’s play a game to review what you’ve learned about Rembrandt’s life and art. For each question you answer correctly you will earn one letter of the Master’s name. Now let’s see how many questions it takes you to finish!

REVIEW GAME ANSWERS (For Instructors Only)

1. In what country did Rembrandt live? HOLLAND 2. In what way did he leave an autobiography? SELF-PORTRAITS 3. What did he show most often in his early self-portraits? EXPRESSIONS 4. Who dressed up in costumes? A and B ONLY 5. What was the title of the military group portrait? THE NIGHT WATCH 6. Why was it called The Night Watch? TURNED DARK OVER YEARS 7. Name a reason The Night Watch was criticized. ALL OF THE ABOVE 8. How did Rembrandt become wealthy? SELLING PAINTINGS 9. What was fashionable in that era to go and watch? ANATOMY LESSONS 10. In Anatomy Lesson, he placed students in what TRIANGLE compositional shape? 11. Who are the cloth makers looking at in their portrait? YOU OR ARTIST 12. Why did Rembrandt’s popularity fade? ALL OF THE ABOVE 13. What tragedy happened to him in old age? ALL OF THE ABOVE 14. Besides his paintings, what other artwork did he do? ETCHINGS AND DRAWINGS 15. What is meant by “Rembrandt Lighting?” HIGHLIGHTING

Excellent listening and remembering!

Click Next To Finish Lesson

to exit this unit click Back To Units

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

Step 2 - Learning From: Rembrandt van Rijn Shadows

Rembrandt carefully studied light and shadow on basic shapes. There are four basic shapes.

Light shining on one side of a shape A shadow is longer when the light is makes a shadow on the other. lower.

Draw a shadow for each shape below.

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

Highlights

A highlights is made when light shines on the side facing the light.

Rembrandt blended the light into the dark.

Blend dark into light on the shapes below. Start coloring on one side pressing hard. As you color toward the other side, press more and more gently. Leave some white paper showing on the lightest side.

Draw one of the four basic shapes in this box. Show the light and dark sides and the shadow.

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

The last few pages of this section contain the Art Activity for Rembrandt van Rijn. This step-by-step outline will be a guide for instructing your child(ren) through the activity. The parent/instructor should review all steps necessary to complete this project before beginning any work.

Cut out the Artist Profile Slip below and attach it to the back of the completed art project.

Rembrandt van Rijn

(REM-brant) - Dutch 1606-1669

Rembrandt developed a painting style using light and dark that is unlike that of any other artist. This “Rembrandt Lighting” creates beautiful contrasts in his etching and painting. He painted more self-portraits than any artist in history – a visual autobiography of his life in 17th Century Holland.

ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Highlights and Shadows MEDIA: White Chalk, Black Oil Pastel, White Oil Pastel

Rembrandt van Rijn

(REM-brant) - Dutch 1606-1669

ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Highlights and Shadows MEDIA: White Chalk, Black Oil Pastel, White Oil Pastel

10 REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

Step 3 - Working With: Art Activity Instructions

ARTIST Rembrandt van Rijn (REM-brant van RINE) TECHNIQUE (1606-1669) Dutch Working light into dark

ART ELEMENTS VOCABULARY Value and space Light, dark, highlight, detail

MEDIA VISUAL White chalk, black and white oil pastels Print: The Mill

EMPHASIS SUGGESTED MUSIC (On CD-Rom) Rembrandt’s use of light Vivaldi - Four Seasons-Spring

MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTOR AND CHILDREN One 12” x 15” black construction paper One 12” x 18” newsprint paper Artist Profile Slip White Chalk Black Oil Pastels White Oil Pastels Q-tips Glue

PREPARATION

Construct an example to become familiar with the procedure. Display the Rembrandt print, and tape your 12” x 15” black construction paper in the front of the students. Have your white chalk, oil pastels, and Q-tip nearby.

SET-UP [ 5 minutes ]

Distribute the following materials to your students: SUPPLIES: White chalk, black oil pastel, white oil pastel, and Q-tip PAPER: One 12” x 15” sheet of black construction paper, one 12” x 18” sheet of newsprint, and one artist profile slip

ORIENTATION [ 5 minutes ]

Can you name the artist who painted this Dutch masterpiece? (Show the print.) Rembrandt made hundreds of sketches of Holland in the late 1600s. He especially liked to draw the villages and windmills. He started his sketches with basic shapes, and then he added details. What was so special about his paintings that people noticed first? (The light) Today we will

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION pretend we are in Holland and draw a windmill and village with Rembrandt’s special use of light and shape…

DEMONSTRATION AND ACTIVITY

ORGANIZE YOUR WORK AREA [ 1 minutes ]

1. Put your black construction paper vertically on top of the newsprint in the center of your work area. 2. Place your white chalk, black oil pastel, white oil pastel, and Q-tip in the top corners of your work area.

DRAWING THE WINDMILL WITH BASIC SHAPES [ 7 minutes ]

(The instructor will need to demonstrate, and have the children follow with their materials.) What basic shapes do you think we will use for our windmill? (Answer in the Learning Packet - Cone, Sphere, and Cylinder.) We’ll start with the sphere, but we’ll flatten it to an oval shape.

THE SPHERE SHAPE 1. Using the white chalk, have the children make a dot right in the center of their black paper. 2. Draw a slightly flattened sphere, or oval, resting on top of the center dot with your chalk. 3. Lightly color it in. Carefully tap excess grains of white powder onto your newsprint. 4. (Do not blow them off, and brushing them off will leave a trail across the paper.)

THE CONE SHAPE 1. Draw a straight line that starts on one side of the oval, and slants out towards the bottom corner. It will stop about two hand-widths from the bottom of the page. (Demonstrate) 2. Draw the other side of the cone in the same way. 3. Then connect the bottom of the two lines with a curving line that looks like a smile.

THE CYLINDER SHAPE 1. The cylinder shape will be very short and wide. Put a dot centered, three fingers up from the bottom of the paper. Draw a short, straight line down from each side of the cone. Stop about three fingers from the bottom of the page. 2. Connect the bottom of the two straight lines with another curving line that looks like a smile.

12 REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

HIGHLIGHTING THE CONE AND CYLINDER SHAPES [6 minutes] (Demonstrate with the white chalk, and have children follow)

1. Let’s pretend that the sun is shining from the top left corner. With our white chalk, let’s put a dot there to remind us. Remember that all highlights will be consistently from the same direction. On which side will the highlights be? (The left side facing the dot.) 2. The light will hit the top first. The top, oval shape should be very light. 3. Color the cone from the left with long strokes up and down using lots of pressure on the left side. Let the pressure slightly reduce as you work to the right. By the time you get to the dark side you should be using no pressure at all. 4. Now put the highlight on the cylinder shape just as you did the cone…on the same side.

DRAWING THE WINDMILL BLADES [5 minutes]

The windmills of Holland had long arms made of cloth stretched over a wooden frame. We can see the lines of the frame in a Rembrandt sketch. 1. With your white chalk, put a dot on the lower edge of the oval where you want the blades to cross (as in the Learning Packet). 2. Draw a big X crossing on the dot. Start the X almost at the top of the page. Stop near the cylinder-shaped bottom of your windmill. 3. Add a small, straight bottom line to each blade, and add another long line to make each blade a long, extended triangle. 4. Highlight each blade with your chalk, as it catches the light.

ADDING A DISTANT VILLAGE [7 minutes]

1. Using white chalk, lightly draw a flat and straight, horizon line. It would be above the center of your paper and on either side of the windmill. Remember Holland is a very flat country. 2. Lightly draw a few interesting rooftops, to give the impression of a village. Think of basic geometric shapes such as the triangle, parallelogram or trapezoid. Draw the shapes above or below the horizon line. Remember they are far away so keep them small! 3. Draw vertical lines from the corners of each rooftop to the horizon line or slightly below to form the sides of the houses or buildings. 4. Small tree shapes and fences may be added. 5. Use your Q-tip to lightly blend the chalk from the heavily highlighted side to the shady side. Keep the Q-tip strokes moving in the same direction as the drawn lines. 6. Now tilt your paper up and let all the excess chalk fall on your newsprint. (Fold and discard.) 7. Unwanted smears or marks of chalk can be removed with an eraser.

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REMBRANDT VAN RIJN – AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION

ADDING DETAIL, LINES AND SHADOW WITH BLACK OIL PASTEL [5 minutes]

1. Outlines can be added to all your shapes in the composition. Begin in the foreground and work towards the back. (The windmill blades are the most forward.) 2. Texture of wood or bricks and details of doors, windows, etc. can also be added. Shapes in the distance must be very simple. 3. Shading can be added to any shape on the side away from the light.

ADDING FINAL HIGHLIGHT DETAILS WITH WHITE OIL PASTEL [ 5 minutes]

To really make your composition look like Rembrandt’s, you need to add final highlights. Use your white oil pastel to add final highlights of detail, texture, outlines or light. Keep the highlighting consistent, and add highlights to the buildings and trees.

MOUNTING THE ARTIST PROFILE SLIP [2 minutes]

(Profile slips for each artist are provided. They give a brief description of the artist, the technique, and the media used in the art activity. They should be mounted on the back of each art project after it is completed.) 1. Write your name on the front of the artist profile slip. 2. Using glue, mount the profile slip on the back of your artwork. 3. Encourage children to discuss their artwork at home using this artist slip of information.

CONCLUSION

From what country was Rembrandt? (HOLLAND) Let’s visit Holland right now, and especially look at all the beautiful windmills. (SHARE ARTWORK) I CAN SEE THE WIND SPINNING AROUND THE GIANT WINDMILL ARMS. Notice the interesting shapes you see and how the sun creates such beautiful light and shadows.

THIS CONCLUDES THE REMBRANDT VAN RIJN UNIT.

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