Rembrandt's Birthday

[Shadowheart]

People in the rest of the world may not have noticed, but it was 400 years ago today that Rembrandt van Rijn was born. As you can imagine the Dutch aren't wasting such a good excuse for celebration and exploitation. It seems everyone has praise for the master, their own idea of what the man was like and something Rembrandt-related to sell.

So Mike (and everyone else, of course), what are your thoughts on this legendary artist?

[Morgan Kane]

-Rolist : A legendary level in his painting skill

- Merchant : What ' s the price ?

- Art critic's : you must admire his technics and sens of composition, of drama

- The young child : mam can i have an ice cream

- The historian : he died in poverty

- The psysomething ...... in hi opus the father figure is omnipresent under all sort of guises

Me : i like very much his works, not yet the academism of later period and something i understand badly .... interesting

[Michael Moorcock]

Rembrandt makes me see human faces afresh. I used to go a lot to the Dutch Masters section of the National Gallery, often spending my lunchtime there when I worked in publishing, and then come out to look at the world, if only briefly, through their eyes. Same in the Rijksmuseum.
It's the extraordinary humanity of Rembrandt and his school which mostly impresses me. Nice to have as birthday in the middle of July. Linda's birthday is tomorrow. She, too, has helped me see people through different eyes...

[Hieronymus]

A great, extraordinary painter, a perfect example of baroque art, popular and noble at the same time

[Oren]

Rembrandt... isn't he the dude doing the covers for Terry Prathcett?

Happy birthday!

[Shadowheart]

- The historian : he died in poverty

The historians know better by now, in terms of wealth and fame his last days weren't as tragic as the myth would have it. He did lose a lot of his fortune, but that seems to have been his own fault for not managing it properly. One of the few things history tells us about the man is that he collected an awful lot of art and exotic goods, of which there was no shortage in 17th century Amsterdam.

Other than that though, Rembrandt gets portrayed as whatever people like. In a current musical, he's a heroic rebel, a proud individualist. I suppose if you can turn De Sade into a champion of artistic freedom, Rembrandt is no challenge. Although judging by his success, there wasn't much of a challenge for Rembrandt himself either. If his work was indeed perceived as radically different in his own day, then his contemporaries must have been less conservative than they're given credit for.

One of my dad's hobbies was jigsaw puzzles, and his favourite was a huge 5000-piece puzzle of the Night Watch. Every so often, the living room would be taken over by neatly arranged rows of brown and yellow puzzle pieces that would gradually form into the imagine of a magnificent group of people. I suspect my fondness for history and hats started there.

To me, the most striking thing about Rembrandt's works is that, in a purely visual medium, there's more than meets the eye. As with looking at real people, you pick up a lot about the people he portrayed subconciously. He depicted what he observed so accurately that we can make up our own minds about what we're seeing.

[Michael Moorcock]

Absolutely.
The only bio I know of Rembrandt was the Charles Lawton movie. A good Hollywood biopic, but probably not the most authentic biography! Lawton was great as one of hose 'lifeforce club' actors usually chosen to play larger than life artists. Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, Anthony Quinn as
Gaugin and so on...

[Hieronymus]

Flemish have a great tradition an higher skill in painting, I love Van Eyck for instance, and obviously Bosch.
I think there is sometthing of "supernatural" ( in the best way ) in their minds which allows them to see "other worlds" and repruduce them with a great "finesse".
My master in illustration was the famous flemish illustrator Karel Thole, and he had the same kind of vision...

[Michael Moorcock]

Have a feeling that's 'Laughton' by the way!
Yes, I love the Flemish masters. It's their extraordinary humanity which mostly attracts me.

[Hieronymus]

I think you'd like very much Thole, Mike.
As person above all.
They are some of his artworks:
http://www.mondourania.com/urania/u7...nia741-760.htm
Karel was the most famous illustrator ( above all in Fantasy, SciFi and Horror ) which Mondadori ( ) have had.
A strong great personality

[Michael Moorcock]

Great stuff. I remember some of those covers!

[Hieronymus]

Karel was a great "illustrator" not only in Italy, unfortunately when he died in 2000 he was almost blind.
Mondadori, above all Urania, become rich thanks his covers... Urania in the 60, 70 and 80 was selling 12000 copies every week. People bought Urania often not to read Sf but attracted by the wonderful covers.
At the end, when Karel has started to become blind ( I knnew him when I was 29 in a my exposition and I was his last pupil )Mondadori pissed him off. Actually they uses only cold covers made with Bryce
Thole was juast famous when he arrived in Italy in the 50.
A strange man. He loved me as a son, he said: "you are not a great drinker" while he was drinking his 12th beer and I was stopped to my 4th