Weekly Artist: Rembrandt

Hola amigos! Second post this week will be about our weekly vote on artists, who, for this week, will be Rembrandt! I've noticed that not much have been voting lately. 2 votes in total? C'mon guys :p. At least they were both Rembrandt, or I would've been stuck in a draw. Anyway, this post is long overdue. Time to get on subject!

Rembrandt

A painted self-portrait of Rembrandt

Rembrandt Van Rijn was a dutch painter from the Baroque period. He was born in Leiden, Netherlands on the 15th of July, 1606. Better known as Rembrandt, he is a very significant figure in Dutch history. He's well known for creating portraits and depictions of scenes, and became famous for painting them with expression and lifelike in comparison to other portraits that were drawn those days.
Rembrandt attended school and college, but in his late teens he became more interested into art and became an artist's apprentice. During the old times, they did not yet invent cameras and families would usually pay artists for portraits of themselves. So he began painting the faces of people, His artwork started to earn more popularity and recognition, and from then on he was known for his skill and accuracy in portraiture.

Some of Rembrandt's Most Recognized Pieces

 Widely popular painting, The Night Watch

The Night Watch is an one example of how Rembrandt possesses the talent of drawing with lifelike features and action. 

"A typical portrait at this time would have shown the men lined up in a row, each man looking similar and the same size" -Ducksters

Zoom in on self portrait of himself 

I know that this is the same portrait of himself that I put up there on the title, but I thought I would put this famous portrait of himself here because I thought it looked pretty interesting close-up like this. You could see all the intricate brush strokes he made very clearly. I find it very amazing how well he does every streak and curve and.. all the colors. It's truly mind-blowing how somebody could have such talent.

Storm on The Sea of Galilee

 This is my personal favorite; the lighting he did on the waves and sea crest that clashes against the ship is just :0 :0 It's really beautiful.

Interesting Facts

• At age 21, he was already offering his knowledge to others and teaching people how to paint

• He painted 88 self portraits

• Rembrandt is pronounced REM-BRANT

• His father was a miller

• He passed away at the age of 63

• One of his famous portraits of a Child with a Soap Bubble worth $5 million USD was stolen in 1998, and was found sometime this week, and made the headlines YESTERDAY, March 21 when a man claimed himself guilty of stealing it 15 years ago and stated that "not a penny" was made from the robbery of the painting. The painting was retrieved in good condition and is in safe hands now.

I bet that last fact was pretty interesting :O I felt the need to include it when searching Rembrandt online and finding that come up first on Google News (: Hope you found it interesting and pretty useful! Here are a few more reference links if needed, or if you want further insight into the stolen painting of Rembrandt that was reclaimed yesterday.

References:

Ducksters Fun Facts - Rembrandt

Wikipedia - Rembrandt

Stolen Rembrandt Painting Found