Rembrandt van Rijn
Until May 22nd at the Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam you can visit an exhibition entitled RAW. In this group show, ten etchings by Rembrandt form the introduction to the work of 13 contemporary artists who present a realistic view of the human body.
Picturing the human body as it really is ... is not as obvious as it might seem. For centuries we have idealized our own and other people’s appearance. Nowadays we do it with Photoshop, plastic surgery, and filters on social media. In the 17th century they idealized the way people looked in works of art. Rembrandt, however, did not. He looked at others (and himself) with an open and curious gaze, and often depicted people with the utmost realism.
Rembrandt pictured people without idealizing them. He remained faithful to his own lifelike manner, even when the taste of the public changed around the mid-17th century and people began to prefer smoother, more polished images. In his etchings you can see a great variety of human bodies.
Rembrandt made self-portraits throughout his entire career as an artist. Many of his etched self-portraits were created between 1628 and 1630. These are all small in size. Sitting in front of the mirror, Rembrandt tried out different facial expressions. He looked at himself with a realistic gaze: frown lines, bags under his eyes, and his tangled hair are definitely not smoothed out.
Tomorrow we will feature a contemporary piece of art corresponding to the Rembrandt etching, so don't miss it! :)
P.S. Here are six of Rembrandt's most incredible self-portraits. :)