Artist

van Rijn, Rembrandt

Title

De Omval Landdunk

Technique

photo-etching

Date

1960

Dimensions

16.0cm. height x 19.0cm. width

Type

print

Accession Number

EC2013.12.1

Collection

Education Collection

Gift of Carole and Dennis Badgley

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a prolific painter, draftsman and etcher, considered today as one of the greatest artists in the history of art. Born in Leiden, in The Netherlands, on July 15, 1606, Rembrandt was the son of a miller. Despite his modest upbringing, Rembrandt enrolled at the University of Leiden at the age of 14. His schoolwork there did not interest him, and he soon left to study fine arts, first with a local master, and then, in Amsterdam. After six months, having mastered everything he had been taught, Rembrandt set up a studio in Leiden and, although barely 22 years old, began taking on his first students. In the early 1630s, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin of a successful art dealer. This relationship advanced his career because it brought him in contact with wealthy patrons. During his lifetime, Rembrandt had an international reputation as an etcher because, in less than four decades, he managed to push the relatively new medium to its expressive limits. Before Rembrandt, printmakers more often used the technique of engraving. In contrast to his successful public career, however, Rembrandt's private life was marked by misfortune. Between 1635 and 1641, Saskia gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived; her own death came in 1642 at the age of 30. Rembrandt's housekeeper, Hendrickje Stoffels, eventually became his common-law wife and model for many of his works. Although he experienced financial success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, Rembrandt's lavish lifestyle forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656. His beloved Hendrickje died in 1663, and his son, Titus, in 1668, at only 27 years of age. Eleven months later, on October 4, 1669, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam. Rembrandt had an enormous impact on subsequent generations of artists, including numerous 17th-century Dutch and German painters, as well as 18th- and 19th-century artists throughout Europe.