Author(s): Pascal Bonafoux

Art

Rembrandt's revealing self-portraits in an appealing, affordable format

Celebrated as the supreme painter of the human condition, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) famously turned the intense spotlight of his empathetic vision on himself. In the course of 60 years, he produced more than 50 self-portraits, in mediums ranging from paintings to drawings to engravings. Rembrandt stood at the beginning of a long tradition of self-portraiture--one that has given us both Cindy Sherman in the high arts, and selfies as the primary form of visual self-expression in everyday life--and he explored its potential in a thoroughly modern way. He portrayed the face he turned to the world, from youth to old age: a dandy, a husband, an artist, a solitary genius, among many other characters. He captured inner states that are universal to existence. Rembrandt by Rembrandt reproduces Rembrandt's self-portraits, with commentary about each one, in an appealing portable format that makes a perfect gift for any art lover.