Rembrandt van Rijn Quotes (23 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Rembrandt van Rijn: 23 quotes 2 likes

Famous Rembrandt van Rijn Quotes

“Try to put well in practice what you already know; and in so doing, you will in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about. Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know. By following carefully the rules of teachings provided that they are truthful, you can save a lot of time. But a student full of doubt is unable to move forwards and to judge well the truth.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

1640 - 1670

“Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

As quoted in Rembrandt Drawings (1975) by Paul Némo, as translated by David Macrae
undated quotes

“Choose only one master — Nature.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

As quoted in Rembrandt Drawings (1975) by Paul Némo, as translated by David Macrae
undated quotes

“A painting is not made to be sniffed. [but viewed from a distance - see also Rembrandt's quote in his letter to Constantijn Huygens, Amsterdam, 27 Jan. 1639]”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Statement attributed to Rembrandt in early biographies, as quoted in The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France (2003) by Alison MacQueen
One of the popular aphorisms about Rembrandt's paintings, drawn from his early biographies in early 19th century and repeatedly attributed to the artist by the French writers and artists [ https://books.google.nl/books?id=N0dVqAsR5k0C&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292&dq=The+Rise+of+the+Cult+of+Rembrandt:+Reinventing+an+Old+Master+in+Nineteenth-century+France&source=bl&ots=SgL2TN2Xct&sig=ZJuOkH35vmifBkzcu5ASLdLyhTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx17OkrpfVAhWKnBoKHQlxA0oQ6AEIVzAJ#v=onepage&q=The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Cult%20of%20Rembrandt%3A%20Reinventing%20an%20Old%20Master%20in%20Nineteenth-century%20France&f=false/The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France, 2003,p. 287 ]
undated quotes

“Rembrandt's comments on his drawing of 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', as remembered by his former pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten c. 1643 (translation from the original Dutch: Anne Porcelijn)”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Dresden museum, Kupferstichkabinett - author: Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - Object: 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt', Inventory number: C 1443 [document/remdoc/e4525]
1640 - 1670

“I have read your pleasant letter of 14th with singular pleasure. I discern your kind inclination and affection which I feel deeply obliged to requite [you] with service and friendship. Because of [my] inclination to do this, [and] in spite of your wish (of Constantijn Huygens], [I] am sending [you] along [with this letter] a painting, hoping that you will accept it, because it is the first momento which I offer you, Sir.... postscripttum]: My [dear] Sir: hang this picture in a bright light and in such a manner that it can be viewed from a distance. It will then sparkle at its best.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

1630 - 1640

Rembrandt van Rijn Quotes about painting

“[.. that he] would not touch the painting, nor finish it unless the claimant pays him the balance due or guarantees it by giving a security.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

from a notary document, 1654 (location: RD, 1654/5, 310); as quoted in Rembrandt's Eyes, Simon Schama, Alfred A. Knopf, Borzoi Books, New York 1999, p. 569 - note 7
Rembrandt is rejecting the demand of the Portuguese Jewish merchant Diego d'Andrade, who rejected in 1654 the portray of his daughter which Rembrandt was painting, as "showing no resemblance at all to the head of the young daughter". D'Andrade demanded that Rembrandt immediately take up his brushes and finish the work to his satisfaction
1640 - 1670

“A painting is complete when it has the shadows of a god.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Statement attributed to Rembrandt in early biographies, as quoted in The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France (2003) by Alison MacQueen
This quote is not to find in the source, Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France, 2003,p. 287 https://books.google.nl/books?id=N0dVqAsR5k0C&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292&dq=The+Rise+of+the+Cult+of+Rembrandt:+Reinventing+an+Old+Master+in+Nineteenth-century+France&source=bl&ots=SgL2TN2Xct&sig=ZJuOkH35vmifBkzcu5ASLdLyhTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx17OkrpfVAhWKnBoKHQlxA0oQ6AEIVzAJ#v=onepage&q=The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Cult%20of%20Rembrandt%3A%20Reinventing%20an%20Old%20Master%20in%20Nineteenth-century%20France&f=false/The
undated quotes

“in a letter to Constantijn Huygens (Amsterdam, February 1636) on a Passion Cycle of 3 paintings, commissioned already in 1635 by the imperial court, as quoted in The Rembrandt Documents, Walter Strauss & Marjon van der Meulen - Abaris Books, New York 1979, p. 129”

Rembrandt van Rijn

What Rembrandt is referring to in his phrase "I cannot refrain from presenting you, [dear] Sir, my latest work." is very probably one or more recent etchings, Rembrandt made.
1630 - 1640

“I can't paint the way they want me to paint and they know that too.
Of course you will say that I ought to be practical and ought to try and paint the way they want me to paint. Well, I will tell you a secret. I have tried and I have tried very hard, but I can't do it. I just can't do it! And that is why I am just a little crazy.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

As quoted in R.v.R. : Being an Account of the Last Years and the Death of One Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn (1930) by Hendrik Willem van Loon
undated quotes

“I am most astonished by what has been written about the [painting] 'Alexander', which is so well done that I must suppose there are not many lovers of art [amatori] at Messina. I am also surprised that Your Lordship [Don Antonio Ruffo] should complain as much about the price as about the canvas, but if Your Lordship wishes to return it as he did the sketch [schizzo] of Homer, I will do another Alexander... If Your Lordship likes the Alexander as is, very well. If he does not want to keep it, six hundred florins remain outstanding. And for the Homer [painting] five hundred florins plus the expenses of canvas, it being understood that everything is at Your Lordship's expense. Having agreed to it, would he kindly send me his desired measurements. Awaiting the response to settle the matter.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Quote of Rembrandt's letter, Nov/Dec. 1662, to buyer Don Antonio Ruffo from Messina, Sicily (location: RD, 1662/12, 509); as quoted in Rembrandt's Eyes, Simon Schama, Alfred A. Knopf, Borzoi Books, NEW YORK 1999, p. 591, & notes 32-36
Rembrant's reaction after complaints of Don Antonio Ruffo, dispatched through the Dutch consul in Messina, Jan van den Broeck, who was on his way to Amsterdam. Once there he was to inform Isaac Just (presumably the intermediary between Rembrandt and the Messina patrician), of the intense dissatisfaction at the work, which Don Ruffo had received. 'The Alexander', he complained, being unacceptably stitched together from four separate pieces, showed seams which were 'too horrible for words.'..g with so many defects.. (Don Ruffo already bought Rembrandt's painting Aristotle with a Bust of Homer c. 1655 and still existing: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_-_Aristotle_with_a_Bust_of_Homer_-_WGA19232.jpg, but 'The Alexander' of Rembrandt is lost).
1640 - 1670

“Quote in Rembrandt's letter to Constantijn Huygens (Amsterdam, 12 January 1639) on 3 paintings commissioned (in 1635 and started by Rembrandt already in 1635/36) by the imperial court, as cited in Painters on Painting (1963) by Eric Protter, p. 78 / Dutch original text in The Rembrandt Documents, Walter Strauss & Marjon van der Meulen - Abaris Books, New York 1979, p. 161.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

version in original Dutch (origineel citaat van Rembrandt, in Nederlands): Door die grooten lust ende geneegenheijt die ick gepleecght hebbe int wel wtvoeren van die twe/ stuckens die sijn Hoocheijt mijn heeft doen maeken weesende het een daer dat doode lichaem Chrisstij/ in den graeve gelecht werd ende dat ander/ daer Chrisstus van den doode opstaet dat met/ grooten verschrickinge des wachters. Dees selvij/ twe stuckens sijn door stuijdiose vlijt nu meede/ afgedaen soodat ick nu oock geneegen ben om die/ selvijge te leeveren om sijn Hoocheijt daer meede/ te vermaeken want deesen twe sijnt daer die meeste/ ende die naetuereelste beweechgelickheijt . in/ geopserveert is dat oock de grooste oorsaeck is dat/ die selvijge soo lang onder handen sij geweest.
in margin: deessen 12 Januwarij 1639, Mijn heer ik woon op die binnenemster, thuijs is genaemt die suijckerbackerrij [in Amsterdam]. http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e4458
What Rembrandt meant in his phrase "die meeste ende di naetuereelste beweechgelickheijt" has been the subject of dispute. Variant translations have been proposed:
For in these two paintings "the greatest and most innate emotion has been expressed", which is also the main reason why they have taken so long to execute (c. 3 years!).
The "deepest and most lifelike emotion has been expressed", and that's the reason they have taken so long to execute.
1630 - 1640

Rembrandt van Rijn Quotes

“This is portrayed after my wife when she was 21 years old, the third day after we were betrothed, on the 8th of June 1633”

Rembrandt van Rijn

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rembrandt#/media/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_088.jpg
1630 - 1640

“For some variation it would be better
to place the donkey seen from behind
[to avoid] all faces looking out of the picture [forward]
And the tree could also have more foliage.
1. Joseph has been portrayed too fat and too recklessly
2. Mary should hold the child more gently
because a vulnerable child can't stand being held so firmly
Joseph is too short fat - his head is growing from his trunk
and both [Joseph & Mary] their heads are too big”

Rembrandt van Rijn

1640 - 1670

Tree

“My [dear] Sir: Let me first offer my kind regards. I agree that I should come soon to see how the picture accords with the rest. As regards the price, I certainly deserve 200 pounds for it, but shall be content with whatever His Excellency pays me. And if you, Sir, do not deem it presumptuous, I shall not neglect to requite the favor. Your humble and devoted servant Rembrandt - It [the picture] will show to [the] best advantage in His Excellency's gallery, since there it will be [displayed] in bright light.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Letter to Constantijn Huygens (Amsterdam, after Feb. 1636) http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e4429
Rembrandt emphasizes here the urge for a place with bright light, necessary to view his painting well. Not certain is which painting by Rembrandt is meant here.
1630 - 1640

Light

“Anno 1659 / On Wednesday, May 14 / You are requested to attend the funeral of / Aegtje Nachtglas / daughter of the late Jacob Pietersz / Nachtglas / at the Cleveniers-Doele [Amsterdam] at one o'clock. Come as friend of the house / Nieuwe-Kerck. [Verso] So eager to catch Christ out in his answer that they could not wait for written reply.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Inscription on Rembrandt's drawing 'Christ and the Woman taken into Adultary' https://tomcat.tiler01.huygens.knaw.nl/adore-djatoka/viewer.html?rft_id=http://localhost:8080/jp2/13288755182981.jp2, on the back of a funeral ticket, after May 1659; (Benesch 1047)
Gary Schwartz states in his 'Core list of Rembrandt drawings' - section 2: with inscriptions in Rembrandt's handwriting other than a signature: 'The authenticity of the drawing was called into question by Giltaij 2003, whose opinion is not shared by others, including myself' at the bottom http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e12838
1640 - 1670

Waiting , Christ , Housing , Daughters

“.. in order to etch, take white turpentine oil, and add half the turpentine to it; pour the mixture into a small glass bottle and let it boil in pure [? ] water for half an hour.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt's 'recipe for a stopping-out varnish' on the verso of a drawing 'Landcape with a River and Trees', undated, c. 1654-55; (Benesch 1351) http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e12886
It is evident that Rembrandt refers (alas fragmentarily) to a so-called 'stopping-out varnish', used to terminate the bite of acid in select areas of a plate that had already been exposed to the etching agent. Thus other portions will remain exposed to the acid to deepen the bite. Also Samuel van Hoogstraten, the first student of Rembrandt in Amsterdam, mentions the use of such a varnish in his 'Inleyding tot de Hooge Schoolde der Schilderkunst', Middelburg 1671 / Rotterdam 1678
1640 - 1670

Water

“A painting is finished when the artist says it is finished.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Statement attributed to Rembrandt in early biographies, as quoted in The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France (2003), by Alison MacQueen
One of the popular aphorisms about Rembrandt's paintings, drawn from his early biographies in early 19th century and repeatedly attributed to the artist by the French writers and artist, Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France, 2003,p. 287 https://books.google.nl/books?id=N0dVqAsR5k0C&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292&dq=The+Rise+of+the+Cult+of+Rembrandt:+Reinventing+an+Old+Master+in+Nineteenth-century+France&source=bl&ots=SgL2TN2Xct&sig=ZJuOkH35vmifBkzcu5ASLdLyhTI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx17OkrpfVAhWKnBoKHQlxA0oQ6AEIVzAJ#v=onepage&q=The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Cult%20of%20Rembrandt%3A%20Reinventing%20an%20Old%20Master%20in%20Nineteenth-century%20France&f=false/The
undated quotes

Painting

“English text; as cited in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, both Ancient and Modern (1908) by Tryon Edwards, p. 131.; second part, transl. by F. Heijnsbroek”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Quote of Rembrandt, recorded by his pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1678 http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e14113; as cited by W.Gs Hellinga, Rembrandt fecit 1642: de Nachtwacht, Gysbrecht van Aemstel', J.M. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam 1956, p. 4 (translation from the original Dutch: Anne Porcelijn)
Rembrandt is teaching his student Samuel van Hoogstraten (c. 1642), http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/hell014remb01_01/ according to W. Gs. Hellinga
1640 - 1670

World , Parting

“Quote of Rembrandt's, from his short poem, 1634; on his own drawing of a lord with beard, very probably representing the court-master Burchard Grossmann in his 'album amicorum' (translation from the original Dutch: Anne Porcelijn)”

Rembrandt van Rijn

1630 - 1640

Quotes , Drawing

“Autograph inscription on Rembrandt's drawing of the old City hall of Amsterdam, 9 July 1652; Benesch 1278 (translation from the original Dutch: Anne Porcelijn)”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt made this drawing two days after the old Town-hall at Dam square in Amsterdam was burned out; the spotlight attracted a lot of attention and various artists have drawn the remains of the historic building. Two days after the fire, Rembrandt laid down the ruins of the building in a drawing. He made the sketch on the spot, standing or seated at (or in) the old daring building on the Dam, as he himself wrote in the inscription. http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e1643
1640 - 1670

Drawing

“The Ground of Rinebrant of Rine: Take half an ounce of Expoltum burnt of Amber, one ounce of Virgin's was, half an ounce of Mastick, then take the Mastick and Expoltum, and beat them severally very fine in a Mortar; this being done, take a new earthen pot and set upon it a charcoal-fire, then shake into it the Mastick and Expoltum by degrees, stirring the Wax about till they be thoroughly mingled, then pour it forth into fair water and make a ball of it, and use it as before mentioned, but be sure you do not heat the plate too hot when you lay the ground upon it, this is the only way of Rinebrant.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt's etching recipe http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e12885, in 'The Whole Art of Drawing', Alexander Browne, London 1660, p. 106
Strauss & Van der Meulen 1979, p. 476, RD 1660/29: 'This recipe, specifically attributed to Rembrandt, for preparing the ground of a plate for etching is given by Alexander Brown in 'The Whole of Drawing'
1640 - 1670

Way , Water

“Quote from Rembrandt's 5th letter to Constantijn Huygens (Amsterdam, 27 January 1639), as cited in The Rembrandt Documents, Walter Strauss & Marjon van der Meulen - Abaris Books, New York 1979, p. 167.”

Rembrandt van Rijn

What Rembrandt is referring to is a little painting he sent Huygens as a gift together with his letter. This quote clarifies Rembrandt's option about the light and distance, necessary for showing his painting and its colors in the right way.
1630 - 1640

Books , Quotes