The Artist in his Studio by Rembrandt - Essay Example

? The Artist in his Studio Rembrandt who started in a family of simple means; and had no art background, studied and became a master in the Dutch Baroque School of Art. In the Artist in his Studio, he showed a young man at the beginning of his career. Many of the characteristics in this painting can be found not to have been used throughout his whole life. This paper will give a short biography. It will analyze the painting, emphasizing that the traits were indicative of the Baroque school where he used them in other works. He was a young artist. He hadn't yet established his style. To conclude, a summary will be given how Rembrandt added other traits to the style in this painting and became a master. Rembrandt painted in the Dutch Baroque School. He was born in Leiden, Holland in 1606 and died in Amsterdam in 1669. (Broos et al.) His parents were lower class and had no artistic background. He was one of 10 children. His father was a milliner and his mother worked in a bakery. (Broos et al.) They sent Rembrandt to a school to study Latin. In his life, he painted over 600 paintings, 300 etchings and 1400 drawings. ( He reached the height of his career in 1642 with the Night Watchman.(Broos et al.) He also had the emotional shock of losing his wife and not painting as much afterwards. North of Europe was free from the Church. They did not have the patronage system and were freer to paint what they chose. The Baroque school was interested in form and lines. They did not paint religious works as other countries did. Light and realism were important. The Artist in his Studio. 1626-1628 . It is written that it is oil on wood, oil on a panel or oil on canvas depending on the sources. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is listed as canvas and on wood according to different listings. The genre is in the interior of a room which looks empty. Rembrandt painted it when he was 20 years old. It is only 25.5 x 32 cm which gives the effect of the painting in the painting to be much bigger. There is the canvas, table, closet, small painting on the wall, small painters table and parquet floor. The artist is holding one paint brush in his right hand and a group of brushes in his left hand. There is either a palette hanging or something else on the wall. The painting shows the style of clothing, the type of room, the type of easel and the decay of the plaster of the room. His studio is simple and poor but his clothes and the size of the canvas show that he is rich. On the table there is a small miniature portrait of Jesus There are also one bottle and two bowls. The shapes of the bowls, the artist the painters table and the palette are round in form. The exact description of the objects have been important as to explain Rembrandts study in line and texture. His study of lines, light and perspective becomes part of the traits of the Baroque School.  Rembrandt was a master at linear study. (Westermann) The perspective of this work is from the top left corner wall to the right. If the viewer really looks there is a second linear perspective from the artist up to the canvas. There are multiple 90° angles: the corners of the floor, the table, the easel, the door, the panels of the parquet floor, the table top which we cannot see. the canvas, the shadows of the easel, the line going from the canvas to the painter etc.. There are fewer 45° angles: the easel, the line from the corner of the room to the center of the room, the line from the back of the easel to the artist, and the canvas. In addition, one can say, it is a study of straight lines. In addition there are the lines of the parquet floor, the door, the lines going up to the ceiling. Lines and angles were part of the Baroque School. The triangles of the painting differ in size as they create the effect of the room being small. The easel is largest piece in the room as the angle of the corner of the room doesn't finish into a triangle. He is holding his painting clothe (chamois) where it shows a right angle. His clothing shows an angle in the way his scarf is around his neck. As symbolism, the angles are a sign that he considers himself bigger than his early and modest beginnings. The visible angles are his tools, his talent, and his mathematical genius. It is difficult to see if it is a self portrait as most of his later self portraits are just portraits of himself without being in a scenic background. Only in looking at other painting, can one see that the colors used have very little contrast. He didn't use a canvas which would have been very expensive for someone who had just started his career. There is the royal blue that he used for his clothing of the artist. Rembrandt has put the canvas in the painting, as the most important part of the painting. It is slightly off to the right making it even bigger than it is. The size of the canvas dominates the painting. As he is standing far from the painting, one would assume it is not a portrait painting. It could be a composition of people or a scenic theme. Rembrandt is a young artist who has not established his style. The textures of the painting differ immensely. He has achieved the differences by different brush techniques. The wood of the door is old. He used short lengthy strokes. One sees a difference in texture between the effect of all the metal between the door and the metal on the easel. The plaster of the wall is cracking as though there has been water damage and only in one place showing wood. The plaster above the door is cracking. The plaster has been achieved by short choppy strokes of the brush. It is possible that wood is symbolic of his financial state. The painting is done about the importance of wood. There is the wood floor, easel, door, paint brushes, table top, and the palette on the wall. The top and bottom of the canvas are in wood also. The base of the painter's table is in wood. The long strokes used on the parquet floor or the short strokes used to show the plaster are some of his techniques. The bottles on the table are in clay. His clothes show many different textures. The most obvious are his leather shoes. By his clothes, we see that Rembrandt is rich. By the studio we see that he is a beginning artist. Textures become part of Rembrandt's major qualities. When he becomes a portrait painter, the quality of showing clothes texture is an important part of each canvas. In The Artist in His Studio, he does not give the portrait of the artist of the painting but his eyes are like the eyes of future paintings. As we do not know the context of the painting, Rembrandt could have said it was anything. This painting becomes unique as he doesn't use this as a style of future paintings as it is a simple composition. There are some other room styles but the angles and lines are different. His paintings become more and more complicated. As a study of shadows , he shows the diversity of angles as mentioned earlier. He also shows his study of light by the darkness of the table; the shadow of the bowls and the shadow of the canvas. Light was not as important in his portraits paintings because there was no perspective of the dark backgrounds. When paintings were showing movement there was light. This light was either by candles or by sunlight. The study of light is added to the study of texture as Rembrandts major traits as an artist. The viewer is closed off from three things in the painting: from Rembrandt's facial expression, the view of the canvas and the locked door. The palette on the wall could have been a mirror. His deep dark black eyes shows his concentration about his subject. The canvas is so much bigger than the painter. He was in the beginning of his career. His principle preoccupation had been etches. In 1628, he was not known. (Westermann) His first paintings were not complicated. This would have been his first studio or an indication of the beginnings of any artist. The size of the canvas represents his feelings towards art. It would have been impossible for a beginning artist to pay for it. Perhaps it represents his feelings towards his own personal talent. As his face is without emotions, he is putting his emotions in the piece of art. It is important to talk about the artist's clothing. His shoes show he is not well renowned. They are well used. His felt rimmed hat is of the period but it is not fancy. His long dress is not typical of any of his other paintings. Is he showing a common artist? The collar, which is a sign of being of a higher social class, is not fancy or well defined. Each painting shows the social class of each person. This was a Baroque trait that was carried through each school. The lighting of the painting appears to be coming from a window. It seems strange once again that he be so over dressed as though it is winter, but there be such a bright sunlight through the window. The lighting adds the effect to the shadows. As the shadows are dark, the viewer knows once again that it is a summery day. In the Netherlands, it is not bright during the winter months. The study of angles is one of Rembrandt's techniques that he uses throughout his whole career. They are in his drawings and etchings. Some have doubted that the artist is a self portrait but it is not important. The dark eyes have been part of all his paintings. His portraits have the collars and hats of the period. His self portraits all have the central entry point from the left top corner. Most of his paintings up to 1660 enter from the left. His self portraits in his career become realistic and visible. This was more a study of angles that facial image. To conclude, many of Rembrandt's qualities in An Artist in His Studio, were used in other works. His use of texture, line and lighting were just some of them. He was not yet known as a portrait artist and the lack of facial expression is somewhat shocking. The painting shows he was young. It was not common to show an artist at his work. Rembrandt does a other room paintings in his career, where lines and angles are so important, he added stories or scenes of portraits. The effect of lights and textures is a synthesis of his work. Works Cited Broos, et al. "Rembrandt van Rijn." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 14 Apr. 2012 Westermann, Mariet. "Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn." The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford Art Online. 14 Apr. 2012 Read More