Matrix: Contemporary Printmaking - Museum of Fine Arts - Florida ...

Fall 2009
Artists’ Biographies
Rembrandt, Self-portrait in Cap
with Eyes Wide Open, 1630,
etching
Rembrandt, The Three Crosses, 1653,
dry point and burin
Rembrandt
Rembrandt was born in Leiden, the Netherlands in
1606. He was the ninth child of a well-to-do family. He
was always interested in painting and as a young boy
had an apprenticeship with Jacob van Swanenburgh, a
local history painter, with whom he spent three years.
Around 1624 he opened his own studio in Leiden with a
colleague and friend, Jan Lievens. He produced small
detailed paintings with religious themes. In 1627 he
started to accept students.
Eventually, he wanted a bigger city with more to
offer so he moved to Amsterdam in 1631. Here he
practiced professional portraiture and stayed with an art
dealer who introduced his cousin, Saskia van Uylenburg,
to the artist. Rembrandt married her in 1634. During this
period he made much larger paintings and they were very dramatic and full of
movement. He still painted biblical stories but also some
mythological ones.
In the late 1630s Rembrandt started to make fewer
paintings and more etchings of landscapes. His work seemed
to be less eccentric, most likely because he was in mourning
for three of his children who died in the late 30s. His wife
followed in 1641. His works of her on her death bed are some
of his most personal and moving.
In the late 1640s Rembrandt started a relationship with
his maid, Hendrickje Stoffels. With her he had a little girl but
they never married.
Rembrandt had always been a frivolous man with his
money. He bought up artwork and eventually he went
bankrupt in 1656. He was forced to sell all his possessions
including his printing press. After he was forced to sell his
printing press he never did printmaking again. To help in the
hard times Hendrickje and their only surviving child, Titus,
started an art dealing business and Rembrandt became an
employee. For the rest of Rembrandt’s life he had a steady
flow of commissions but he never regained his financial
stability.
He outlived both Hendrickje and his son and was left
important in Dutch history.
Rembrandt, Landscape, 1640, etching
with his baby daughter. Rembrandt died a few months after
Titus in 1669. He left behind one of the biggest collections
of artwork, including around 400 etchings and over 600
paintings. Still to this day he is considered one of the
greatest European painters and printmakers and the most
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