Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Artist in his Studio
c.1628
Oil on panel, 24.8 x 31.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A young artist stands in a nearly empty studio, brushes in hand. Rather than showing the artist in the act of creation, Rembrandt focuses on the daunting expectations of the surface to be painted. This little picture asserts that making art is as intellectual as it is technical, a product of the mind as well as the hand. The painter here is conscious of the task ahead—think about how the looming easel blocks his way to the door—and maybe even of his place within the Netherlandish artistic tradition. (MFA)