Rembrandt, a great artist

During his life, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn knew both great fame and great poverty. Holland's greatest artist was born in 1606, as the son of a well-to-do miller. At 18 years of age he moved to Amsterdam and started working under the tutelage of Pieter Lastman, a popular painter.

In Amsterdam, Rembrandt developed his talents as a successful painter. He knew, as did no other, how to play with light and shadow. One of his first major projects was recording on canvas the anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp. This met with much acclaim. Both The Anatomy Lesson and The Nightwatch can be viewed at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

But with the latter, in 1642, Rembrandt was less successful. His clients were certainly not pleased when he depicted a number of patrol group members, on the basis of a purely compositional approach, in the dark.

From then on Rembrandt had a hard time. The love of his life, Saskia, died; he went bankrupt. Later on, both his son, Titus, and his mistress, Geertje Dircx, also passed away. Although Rembrandt remained a respected artist in his time, and he did always have work to do, his work was not really appreciated. He died in poverty.

Just as has been the case with so many artists, Rembrandt's fame began centuries after his death. We can safely say that The Night Watch is the best known painting in the world. The Rijksmuseum has 21 Rembrandts, including the Jewish Bride and the Syndics, as well as dozens of works by the students of Rembrandt, Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck.