National Gallery of Art - Quick Takes

Descent from the Cross, Rembrandt Workshop, Oil/Linen, 1650/52, NGA


Adoration of the Magi, Fra Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Tempera/Wood, 1440/1460, NGA


The Kitchen Maid, Chardin, Oil/Linen, 1738, NGA

On Sunday, I went to the National Gallery of Art - West Building. These are some of my observations.

The Rembrandt paintings express such a broad range of thought and feeling - like life. Regardless of subject matter, he seems to consistently explore a portraiture of sorts. During this visit, I thought about the connections between the way he thinks about the head and the way he approaches landscape and narrative. I think his deep understanding of the head infuses his work with unrivaled emotional depth and awareness. I look at his work as often as possible and each time experience something different and new.

This time, the Italians offered me a fresh look at the round format. Aware of linear perspective and yet unencumbered by it, they freely altered scale to better express their ideas. A meaningful composition in the round reveals a more obvious relation between the composition and format and helps deepen my understanding of composition in general.

Looking at the space in the Chardin paintings was a remarkable visual experience. Instead of receding pictorial depth, his space seemed to also press forward - almost bubble towards the viewer. Two paintings - The Kitchen Maid and The Attentive Nurse - defy obvious and predictable pictorial space. In both, especially The Kitchen Maid, the figure seems to be on the verge of falling head first out of the painting. He is a genius at pictorial tension and balance.

What marvelous teachers!

Link National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Rembrandt

The Blinding of Samson, 93"x119", oil on linen, Rembrandt, 1636, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany

The path to becoming a good painter must include the lifelong study of great painters. Rembrandt and Cezanne have to be carefully considered by the serious student because of the strength of their pictorial ideas and expressions.

Rembrandt is widely considered one of the most important visual artists in history. Why? What does his work tell us? There is never a equivalent substitute for contemplating any art work first-hand. With that said, there are several informative web sites which include fair-to-good web reproductions of his work.

Link Rembrandtpainting.net

Link A Web Catalog of Rembrandt Paintings

Link Detroit Institute of Arts, Mostly Etchings, Excellent Zoom Feature

Rembrandt, The Three Crosses, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Three Crosses, Rembrandt, 1653, Third State

"Rembrandt's greatest and most dramatic print is the Three Crosses, a work which has all the power of a painting. It shows the deepest point of Christ's suffering: the moment of his death on the cross at Golgotha. Massive beams of light slice through the darkness that the Gospels relate descended on the entire country. The light focuses on Christ, the two murderers who were crucified beside him and the crowd round about. Rembrandt made several versions of this print. This is an impression of the third state."

Link Comments and Analysis, Rijksmuseum

Restoring Rembrandt - Step by Step

Even if you are lucky enough to own a masterpiece, how do you know if it is the authentic version? Has it been overpainted and altered by others to reflect each owner's tastes? Here are examples of four different versions of a Rembrandt self-portrait and how it changed back into the original.

Link BBC News, In Pictures: Restoring Rembrandt

"Only a Blur"

Art Critic John Haber writes about Rembrandt.
Click on title above for the article, or to read more of his writings about everything art at his extensive blog/website:

Link

Rembrandt and Composition

Portraits present unique challenges with respect to pictorial composition. This is one reason landscape and still-life might be used to explain and explore compositional ideas. The ideas are far more accessible and obvious.

But perhaps because of these difficulties, portrait composition will reward us with more valuable information? Generally, what methods are used to analyze the compositional structures of painting or drawing? Are there more interesting and productive ways of looking at portrait composition? In the case of this self-portrait, what is the content (ideas) and how does the form create it? What do you think?