Bust of an Old Man with a Fur Cap and Flowing Beard, Nearly Full Face, Eyes Direct, c.1631The focus of a little visit to the Norton Simon Museum at Pasadena was one certain exhibition, which was called "The Familiar Face: Portrait Prints by Rembrandt." Rembrandt van Rijn was a well known painter for his time in the early 1600s. He was remembered for his various portraits rather than other pieces of art he had done over those years. With that focus, I got a sense of where he is coming from on how he wants to express faces in these portraits and it also reminds me of those master/pupil comparisons. As far as criteria is concerned, these paintings can be methodically judged the way Rosenburg would critque with a slow dissection of the painting itself focusing on the details. These facial portraits feel as perfect as they were in those times as if today's portrait booths are missing the whole point. You get a certain sense of soul when looking at these paintings and you see that these are what people look like in the 1600s. I think it is an accurate representation of the time frame when merchants are running wild in Europe. Even if these people are just sitting there for the portrait, you still get a sense of where they are coming from just by their positions and facial expressions. Of course everyday portraits are just your average "hey let's take a picture together and show it off to others," but back then Rembrandt was able to get within something special for them to feel somewhat alive at one point. I can see why he was such an influential painter for that time setting the bar for artists in those coming years.
.jpg)
Old Man with a Flowing Beard, 1630.jpg)
Man Wearing a Close Cap: Bust (the Artist's Father?), 1630
I also attended one of his exhibitions in Getty Museum. I also saw some of his portraits, but I focused on his drawing style and the comparison of him and his pupils. There are four element style of Rembrandt’s drawing: sketchy and suggestive use of line, selective description of details, nuanced expression and gesture, and precise rendering of light. Mostly, Rembrandt did not “finish” the whole picture, and he would leave some areas blank or blurry. He only focused on the parts which can make the theme more outstanding and used the strong light and dark value contrast, selective details, and strong lines to perform them. His works let me remember Impressionism. His art work also let me remember Impressionism. They also performed an unclear image. Impressionism artists wanted to record their first impression of their eye sight, so their art works are blurry to present their unclear memory as an “impression.” I also recommend you to see the picture of “Sunrise.” It is a very outstanding art work by Claude Monet, a master of Impressionism. I hope you would like it.
ReplyDelete