Rembrandt. Sämtliche Gemälde

Arts & Photography

Manuth, Volker

Winkel, Marieke De

Leeuwen, Rudie Van

History & Criticism

Taschen Deutschland GmbH+

Few devotees of the form can approach Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn’s radical contributions to the art of the self-portrait. Challenging the conventions enshrined by his predecessors, Rembrandt transformed self portraiture into a fully realized medium capable of communicating emotional depth rather than favorably immortalizing one’s likeness in the finest trappings of luxury.
With more than 80 works spanning paintings, etchings, and drawings, the Dutchman’s lifelong practice of self-portraiture functions as a means of concretizing that which is fleeting, be it individual moments of development set against the inexorable passage of time, or the facial contortions of emotion that are gone, without a trace, as swiftly as they arrive. Across the four decades in which they were painted, one constant is particularly striking across media and styles―Rembrandt’s dedication to presenting himself from multiple perspectives, celebrating the multiplicity of the individual and championing the unfiltered portrayal of emotional expression.
Apart from the thematic concerns present within Rembrandt’s suite of self-portraits, the works themselves are rich with technical innovation and experimentation. Glints of light bathe a shoulder while whole swathes of his face blend, obscured, into darkened backdrops. Carved through a wet patina of earth-toned paint with a rough reed pen, unruly curls seem to reflect the light cast down upon them, swirling with boisterous energy befitting the surprise so often plastered across Rembrandt’s face. There is an unmistakable humanity present across the entirety of this oeuvre, each expressive brushstroke and obfuscated feature amounting to an unflinchingly honest characterization of himself, in all his foibles, contrasting states of feeling, and stages of life.
Commemorating the 350th anniversary of the artist’s death, this comprehensive monograph renders all of Rembrandt’s self-portraits in breathtaking XL resolution. From his first experimentations at age twenty-two to his final self-portrait painted a year before his death, this stunning collection stands testament to a life committed to revolutionizing painterly practice both in content and form.

Rembrandt: The Self-Portraits

Taschen America, LLC

Until now dress has played only a subordinate role in the research of Rembrandt’s paintings, despite the fact that few artists are as intensively studied as this Dutch master. The lacuna is all the more surprising since Rembrandt obviously delighted in rendering clothes, which, for him, not only communicated the character and social status of his sitters but also clarified his narratives and heightened the drama in his historical pieces. Here, Marieke de Winkel offers a fascinating and much-needed study of dress and costume in the works of Rembrandt. De Winkel shows us how focusing on apparel opens a new line of inquiry into Rembrandt’s paintings, one which is symbolically and iconographically richer than previously imagined. This approach, which has not been fully acknowledged by art historians nor developed by dress historians, deepens our understanding of Rembrandt’s expression as well as the cultural and historical context of the Dutch seventeenth century. De Winkel proves the merits of the approach here with her close readings of Rembrandt’s paintings and the contemporaneous connotations of the clothes he depicted. She demonstrates convincingly that clothes do much more than help date the paintings; they are instead integral to the program of representation. No longer ancillary to art history, dress and costume here receive their full due in this study, leaving us with not only a better understanding of Rembrandt but of his wider world as well.

Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt's Paintings

Amsterdam University Press

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