When you look at a rembrandt that has people in it, they're all rembrandt. And when rembrandt paints, he's painting himself over and over and over again. The real pistake here is that he just isn't serious about the the vision he has of himself,. or he doesn't want us to take it too seriously. He does want to be in our way.
We compare the works of two of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age: Rembrandt and Vermeer. Making the case for Rembrandt van Rijn in this debate was historian, author and broadcaster Simon Schama. For Schama, Rembrandt's works are raw humanity personified with formal beauty being the least of the painter's concerns. Novelist Tracy Chevalier, however, champions Johannes Vermeer. She claims that the artist's charm lies in the very fact that he absents himself from his paintings and as a result they are less didactic and more magical.
The debate was chaired by art historian, writer and museum director, Tim Marlow.
For a list of works referenced in this debate, along with links to each, please go to:
https://intelligencesquared.com/events/rembrandt-vs-vermeer-titans-of-dutch-painting-simon-schama-tracy-chevalier/
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