Jessica Crabtree

So here’s my first foray into the web interactives of the Louvre Museum. First of all I’ve got say how much I love the practical layout of the features – so much to see but all very accessible and well-organized.

Out of the list of thematic mini-sites I’ve chosen “Rembrandt the Draftsman”. Of the three areas in which Rembrandt made his mark (no pun intended) – painting, etching, and drawing – this exhibit highlights the last. And with pencil and paper being my first love I could hardly resist.

France, it seems, has had a long history of Rembrandt appreciation, and French collectors of his drawings go way back. The Louvre alone possesses 64 of them, and many of these were acquired in the early 18th century.

Rembrandt’s drawings, to a greater extent than those of other artists, are like strobe photos of an artist’s mind in action – like a flip-book of creative ideas taking shape in his head. He sketched prolifically and copied works of his mentors to explore their method and many of these sketches are still extant.

Interior with Saskia in Bed – a scene from Rembrandt’s own home. This one I found unique in its masses of heavy rich shading that give structure to the composition. A very warm and domestic example of his genre painting.

Most of his drawings are done with chalk or ink wash or a combination of both. With his distinctive blunt, rapid, scrambled style, they are spontaneous enough to capture the essence of the subject with very little premeditation and an added sense of lightness and motion (especially so in his narrative scenes).

Cornelis Claesz – This was one of the most articulate and sensitive in the exhibit. It uses not only ink and wash but chalk and gouache, and is much more elaborate and self-sufficient than most of his drawings. The subject was a prominent Dutch Mennonite.

Below, completely different in tone and subject, is the sketch Shah Jahan on Horseback, with a Falcon on his Left Wrist. It shows Rembrandt’s uncanny readiness to assimilate other styles. He must have been fascinated with the line and texture of Oriental painting. He made this copy of the Mughal ruler’s portrait from a miniature, probably a piece in his own eclectic collection. His widely multifarious interests qualify him as something of a Renaissance man, notwithstanding the Netherlands’ cosmopolitan society.

The most interesting section (I think) was ‘Rembrandt the Narrator.’ He was certainly at his best as a storyteller – his exuberant curiosity and attention to detail made the combination of human dynamics with an eloquent (and sometimes flamboyant) presentation a no-brainer. I think they reveal his character the most. They exploit his favorite subjects – the expressiveness of the elderly face, the body language of individuals in states of strong emotion, and the intrigue of exotic settings and dress.

The counterpoint between his subjects is strong but not forced, because there is a real sense of innocence in Rembrandt’s characters. I think part of this quality stems from the way he explored lesser-known subjects: for instance, rather than painting many dozens of Madonnas over and over, he looked for the dramatic potential in obscure Old Testament scenes, such as Jacob’s sons returning from Egypt, or in the pages of the Apocrypha.

The Parable of the Talents – To the right is a close-up of the hired man: his face downcast, and his posture suggesting even more strongly his embarrassment and despondency.

Something remarkable about Rembrandt’s sketches is that no matter how spontaneous or cursory they appear, the faces are always given equal treatment. Even with just a few marks he makes sure that they convey the suggestion of expression that carries the symbolic weight of the narrative.

And finally, landscapes first appeared in his portfolio around 1640, done mostly from plein-air sketches. These have become fixtures of his portfolio representing the Dutch style (of course how could the mention of Rembrandt fail to conjure a vision of those iconic ink-wash windmills?)

River with Wooded Banks – one of Rembrandt’s later pieces. It illustrates how drastically his style softened over time. It is strikingly atmospheric and harks to a much later style of painting – perhaps to Turner or even the Impressionists?

The Old Masters: Rembrandt van Rijn This Day in History

Jan Vermeer (also variously Johann or Johannes) painted during the “Dutch Golden Age” of the 1600s. Although he was highly esteemed during his lifetime, his work soon fell into obscurity until it was rediscovered in the 1800s. Since then, Vermeer has become one of the pillars of composition, style, and technique.

Left: The Girl with the Pearl Earring, originally called Girl Wearing a Turban – thought to be Vermeer’s eldest daughter.

Vermeer was born in 1632 in Delft, Netherlands. He has been dubbed the “Sphinx of Delft” for his confounding obscurity. Unlike many of the Old Masters, there is little documentation of his life, his training, or his work. He produced relatively few paintings during his lifetime; never traveled far beyond his hometown; left behind no drawings or studies to show his method; and worked with a guild but never had students to pass on his techniques.

Most of his paintings portray the industry and accomplishment of the privileged Dutch middle class, despite the fact that he worked during a period of war and economic depression. In fact many of his original works were sold off after his death in 1675 to relieve his widow and children of debts he had accrued in trying to support his large family. While he did not lead a lavish lifestyle, he must have been dependent to a large extent on wealthy patrons.

Although little is known of his painting process, an apparent signature of his work is the underpainting technique which he used to imitate the subtleties of refracted and diffused light. His portrayals of undertones, shadows and reflections are considered the most accurate and precise of all the great artists.

Above: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher – quintessential Vermeer, depicting a tranquil domestic scene. Notice again the blue-yellow color combination.

Another Vermeer signature is the consistently cool color palette and the particular combination of complementary yellows and blues. This is a prominent feature in his most famous works, and appears in some form in nearly all of his paintings. He especially favored blue midtones such as cornflower and made unparalleled use of the rare and expensive lapis lazuli pigment with striking effect.

The Geographer and The Astronomer. I love the way the geographer gazes out of the window – very typical of Vermeer. Another artist might have chosen to depict this scholar immersed in his charts; but here Vermeer captures the soul of imagination and exploration.

See a critical comparison of the two here and here.

VERMEER AND REMBRANDT: A comparison (continue reading…)

July 15, 1606: Birth of Rembrandt van Rijn

As far as I can remember, Rembrandt was the first great artist I got to know. I recall being a toddler with a big book in my lap, gazing at Rembrandt’s deep, dark, thickly textured scenes and the garishly-dressed figures with penetrating stares, and thinking, “This must be the guy who invented painting.”

Belshazzar’s Feast, 1638

I wasn’t quite right on that score, but few artists – and few great masters – ever achieved the status that Rembrandt did. His talent was and still is phenomenal and his style completely unmistakable. The strikingly dramatic chiaroscuro that first caught my eye, and the oil paints slapped on in heavy layers make his work completely original. Despite this fact, his output is widely varied – ranging from the Renaissance style of his earlier pieces, to the photorealism of the Dutch and Flemish schools, to the strongly Impressionist flavor of his later works.

The interesting thing is, much of his phenomenal ability may have come from a form of disability – similar to Einstein’s abnormal brain anatomy. He is believed to have suffered from a syndrome known as “stereo blindness” which causes a person to see three-dimensional objects in two dimensions. Researchers believe that rather than being a handicap, this may have facilitated his ability to transfer images to paper or canvas – a process which normally inhibits the average person when first learning to draw. (continue reading…)

I found this pen and ink study of facial expressions done by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), one of the premier artists of the French baroque. Each character sketch is labeled (in French) but the captions of course do not need translating. Click to see the full-size.

May 21, 1471: Birth of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer

Left: Self-Portrait, Oil on lime panel (1500)

Durer is most famous for his signature work – the ubiquitous “Praying Hands.” The story has it that they are the hands of his brother, who gave up his chance at an art career in order to provide for Albrecht’s training. Praying Hands, brush drawing on blue primed paper (c. 1508)

Whether or not the story is apocryphal, Durer did go on to become possibly the most influential artist of the Northern Renaissance. Durer’s style is characterized by painstaking attention to detail and a focused, dramatic approach to composition. His fascinating portfolio betrays him as a man with an open mind and a curious nature.

He was a prolific artist, and unlike his Italian contemporary Leonardo da Vinci, left behind an incredibly diverse collection of artwork in a wide range of mediums and subjects. Well over a thousand of his paintings, drawings, and etchings have survived to the present day.

Left: Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman,
Oil on elm panel (1505)

Right:
Head Study of a Man Aged 93, Brush drawing on primed paper (1521)

Like da Vinci, however, his most significant accomplishment lay in his ability as a draftsman. Living in Germany in the wake of the printing revolution, he used the crafts of woodcutting and engraving to capitalize on the potential of art reproduction as an industry, making him one the most widely published and esteemed artists of the Renaissance.

Web Gallery of Art – Online Museum Database: Albrecht Durer Biography and Gallery

Below: Wing of a Roller, watercolor/gouache on vellum (1512)
Right: Two Squirrels (1492)
Below right: Young Hare, watercolor and gouache (1502)

April 15, 1452: Birth of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo was born near Florence, Italy and spent his career in various Italian city-states during the height of the Renaissance. He is the archetype of the “renaissance man” – inventor, engineer, architect, botanist, anatomist, mathematician, philosopher, musician, sculptor, and artist. His reputation has eclipsed even such contemporaries as Michelangelo and Raphael. And in recent times his legend has undergone something of a renaissance (no pun intended) thanks to Dan Brown.

Out of all his achievements, Leonardo is best remembered as a painter. The Mona Lisa and the Last Supper are still cultural icons and arguably the most famous paintings in the world.

His work largely contributed to the development of modern painting, especially portraiture. Ironically, few of his paintings have survived (not much over a dozen) and many of these are not entirely original due to the practice of sub-contracting work to talented apprentices who exchanged acknowledgment for experience under a master’s guidance.

The bulk of Leonardo’s artistic work consists of his extensive drawings of many subjects, ranging from character studies to anatomy to landscapes.

Leonardo: Master Draftsman – Interactive exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Quotes:

“A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man’s mind.”

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.”

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”