Jonathan Bikker

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Enter me, 35, seeing Rembrandt Van Rijn’s final self-portrait in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, July 2014. That museum has Vermeer’s The Girl With The Pearl Earing too, but the 1669 self-portrait is the true gem of the collection. I was struck by lightning. I had seen paintings by Rembrandt before, but never one of his late works. The way he painted his hair, topped with a kind of turban or ribbon, is simply stunning. In a way, what I saw was the birth of impressionist and even show more expressionist painting, already in the 17th century. It took me half an hour before I could continue to the next painting, and before leaving the museum, I returned to it again. A profound delight.

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The authors do a great job of putting Rembrandt firmly in his historical context. To our eyes Rembrandt might seem old hat – he’s such a part of our visual collective subconscious – but he’s not. Even today he remains fresh and relevant, and back in the 17th century he simply was in a league of his own. The texts feature quite a lot of quotations of 17th and 18th century art historians, and they succeed in proving the exceptional, revolutionary nature of Rembrandt. And that’s not just because of his technique – his brush strokes, his command of light, etc. – but also his command of composition and emotion, and the specific, singular way he chose to portray subjects and topics that were common at the time. He was a true genius, on multiple accounts. The book also zooms in a bit on Rembrandt eventful, tragic life. It’s not a biography however, the focus is on his art throughout.

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Zeer beknopte inleiding op wat wellicht het beroemdste Nederlandse schilderij is. Bikker focust vooral op de manier waarop Rembrandt afweek van het traditionele groepsportret, door een behoorlijk aantal ongerijmde elementen in het schilderij te smokkelen. Wat ik ook niet wist, is dat in de 18de eeuw zowat een vijfde van de zijkanten is afgesneden, om het te doen passen tussen twee deurlijsten, jawel.

Een vrij beknopt, maar wel heel toegankelijke biografie over Rembrandt van Rijn (1607?-1669), verschenen in het kader van het 350 sterfjaar van de schilder. Helaas komt het biografische deel er naar mijn mening wat bekaaid van af, en ligt het accent in dit boek vooral op (de zeer toegankelijke) beschouwingen van het werk van Rembrandt, voornamelijk uit de collectie van het Rijksmuseum. De afbeeldingen in het boek zijn goed, en de vormgeving was, zoals gebruikelijk sinds de heropening, in show more handen van Irma Boom. show less