Dutch painters
- Dutch Art
- Rembrandt
- van Gogh
- Jan Steen
- Frans Hals
- Vermeer

Sights of Holland
- Water management
- Delft blue
- Saint nicholas
- Tulips

Accomodations
- hotels
- camping
- holiday homes
- map of holland

Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is by many regarded as the greatest paintor, of this time and in Dutch art in general. He was born on the 15 of July 1606 in Leiden. His father was a miller and wished that the boy would learn a profession, but Rembrandt left the University of Leiden to study painting. When Rembrandt became established as a painter, he began to teach and continued teaching art throughout his life. In 1631 he moved to Amsterdam and started a studio there. He was a man of considerable wealth and a respected citizen. In 1634 he married the beautiful Saskia van Uylenburgh. She was the model for many of his paintings and drawings.

He often chose motifs from the Old Testament for his paintings. In the early years from 1625-31, his Leyden period, his work was inspired by the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Ten years later he had a full-blown High Baroque style. His paintings often had oriental elements and they were dramatic and violent but yet seductive. He was the most popular portrait painter in Amsterdam and as an etcher he ranks among the foremost of all time. When he had no other model, he painted or sketched his own image. It is estimated that he painted between 50 and 60 self-portraits. In the 1630s and 1640s he made many landscape drawings and etchings.

In 1642 he painted The Night Watch and this is considered to be the highlight and turning point of his career. The painting is hugh and depicts a military company. Each person is painted with care and interest characteristic for his work. The painting was admired even thought the lightning put some important people in the shadow.
His wife also died this year only 30 years old and three of his four children had died in infancy a earlier. Only his son Titus survived. Since around 1649 he lived together with his former housekeeper Hendrickje Stoffels, she was also his model. . The success and wealth of Rembrandt declined, but not dramatically. In the 1650’s and 1660’s, he received some major public comissions and his financial difficulties were mostly the result of poor management. Altough his house and collections were sold at an auction.

After 1650’s his style changed. His paintings now show a new warmth in colour, lyric subtlety and pictional breadth. His work had reached a new depth of feelings. He used gentle light and gestures and a less ailien and barbarous world. It is thought that he had looked back and found inspiration in former artists and their works.

Hendrickje died in 1663 and his son Titus in 1668, 27 years old. Eleven months later, on the 4th of October 1669 Rembrandt died in Amsterdam. By that time he had produced approximately 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 1,400 drawings. Some of the more famous are The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632), Young Girl at an Open Half-Door (1645), The Return of the Prodigal Son (after 1660), The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662), The Jewish Bride (1665) and several self-portraits.

The biblical pictures of Rembrandt demanded an insight that was beyond the capacity of all but a few collectors. Most art buyers in Holland prefered motifs within their own experience such as landscapes, architectural views, still lifes and everyday scenes. This started a new trend and the Dutch painters became the leaders of this style. The masters of this genre were Jan Vermeer and Jan Steen.