 Early Prosperity
By 1631, he had become
well known and his studio was flourishing. He then moved to Amsterdam, obviously induced
by the advantages that the capital city had to offer artists. His opportunities would
widen there. He lived with his art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh in the
Saint–Antoine– Breestrat. The dramatic vividness and forceful illusionism of his
first large scale group portrait the Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp established his
reputation as a portrait painter. He received many commissions for portraits and for
paintings of religious subjects.
Saskia's
Influence
He had become prosperous
and lived the life of a wealthy and respected citizen. He married the beautiful Saskia van
Uylenburgh, niece of Hendrick, in 1634. Simultaneously with his professional success,
Rembrandt enjoyed a rapid rise in his social position through his marriage to Saskia.
Saskia brought with her a substantial fortune and, as a member of a patrician family, she
was able to help Rembrandt in extending his contacts in Amsterdam's wealthy circles. He
gained both fame and fortune. His paintings were in great demand and he was able to ask
the highest prices from his patrons, and he had many students who had to pay dearly for
the privelege of his instruction. He was an extravagant man and indulged himself
impulsively. He collected objects of art and other curiosities.
| Baldinucci describes Rembrandt's activity as a collector, and his extravagance as follows; "He often went to public sales by auction; and he he acquired clothes that were old-fashioned and disused as long as they struck him as bizarre and picturesque, and those, even though at times they were downright dirty, he hung on the walls of his studio among the beautiful curiosities which he also took pleasure in possessing, such as every kind of old and modern arms - arrows, halberds, daggers, sabers, knives and so on - and innumerable quantities of drawings, engravings and medals and every other thing which he thought a painter might ever need." Baldinucci goes on to describe Rembrandt's rather provocative conduct at such public auctions, where he "bid so high at the outset that no one else came forward to bid; and he said that he did this in order to emphasize the prestige of his profession." |
|
Rembrandt's possessions
accumulated over the years and in 1639, he bought a large house in the Joden-Breestrat
that he could ill-afford. This was an undertaking which strained his resources and
contributed to his financial collapse.
His wife, whom he
idolized, appeared in many paintings. She appears in many of his historical and Biblical
paintings as an ideal of womanhood as he understood it. It has been said that his wife was
not a good influence on him, that she encouraged his extravagance and was responsible for
his ostentatious behavior. His violent temperament that came to the fore during these
years, went a long way in unfolding the layers of his dynamic personality. Had this not
happened, the emotional upheaval of his middle years would not have been so sharp as it
was and would not have produced the depth of feeling in him that he did.
Tragedy: A Change
Of Perspective
 In 1640, his mother died. This was the beginning
of the series of tragic events that were to change his view of life and also his artistic
outlook. In 1642, after a year of deteriorating health following the birth of a child
named Titus, his wife Saskia died. Three children who had been born in the preceding
years, had died in infancy, making Titus their only surviving child.
His fortunes were now
falling. His reputation as the best portrait painter of Amsterdam was declining and his
financial condition was also strained. He withdrew himself and his work became more
realistic and sober. His eye became more penetrating and his vision broadened. It was as
if his suffering had a purifying effect on his human outlook. These altered values are
reflected in his work. He grew extremely fond of his son Titus, who appears in many of his
paintings, sometimes as Tobias, as Daniel or as the young Christ.
 True Artist
The events of his life,
in his late years, took a final, disastrous course. He had to ask the government to grant
him a cession bonorum, in order to avoid bankruptcy in 1656. Following
Saskia’s death he had an affair with Geertje Dircx, who was Titus’ nursemaid.
The affair ended in a breach of promise case. After this, he found companionship in
Hendrickje Stoffels, who had joined his household as a maidservant. It was her simple
warm-heartedness that drew him to her. It was she and his son Titus who took him on as an
employee in their art dealing business to save him more trouble. Even after all these
tragic events, he went on producing the best of art works. In 1663, his beloved Hendrickje
died. All these things contribute to the somber undertone of his later works. He died in
1669 and was buried in the Westerkerk. He remains today, in the words of the Dutch painter
Jozef Isreals, "the true type of artist, free, untrammeled by traditions". |
