New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-10


versty and abundant aptitude for pictorial art.
There was not any Of the traditional opposition
raised by his parents They abandoned their
first plans without murrnur and in the neigh
borhood Of his fifteenth year appfenticed him
for three years to Jacob Won Swanenburch, a
mediocre painter long since forgotten. but at
that time something Of a celebrity in the town
which could boast Of no artistic guild such as
fourished in places Like iaarlem ana Inc
Hague Rembrandt developed rapidly under
the elementary tuition Of Swanenburch' ana at
the end Of his apprenticeship was perhi''eu u
seek the studio Of Pieter Eastman, Ill Ams'er-
dam. In his new atelier without initiating HIS
master he strengthened his art in composition
and chiaroscur, under the teaching of prin-
cin,es classic i'm tendency which Eastman had
picked I'd in the noted circle IF Adam f'isheimer
at Rome But while Rembrandt proited by the
substratum of scientific truth In Eastman $
work he was opposed by temperament to clas-
sic or academic ideas. and in less imam SIX
months left Amsterdam for his home in Leyden.
There he worked increasingly FOR about seven
wears. gathering about him enthusiastic band
of Young men, of whom Dou and Lievens were
the most conspicuous. and producing with the
brush and the needle pictures which won MN
more than local fame-for we read Of much pat
ronaee reaching him from Amsterdam. He set
tled in the latter city in 1881. The fashionable
naintor of the day was Thomas de Keyser.
,noeterlv exompIar of the realistic portraiture
which prevailed early In the seventeenth CEN
turv Rembrandt was already feeling MS way
toward the elastic and flowing style when Is
characteristic of him at his best; but ne was 700
Young to dethrone a tradition ofhand' ana II ~
no reflection on his independence or origiha"N
that his portraits conforIned in the MAN, 10 Tue
standard he found in favor az the Tune lie
COMPROMISED tacitly by surprising DE N'yS'r
and his contemporaries on their own grouh"'
Through the brilliancy Of n succession OF WorKs
well illustrated. by the way. by Mir HaVemeyei
important Beresteyn portraits. and cu'mina'ihs
in "The Anatomy Lesson" Of The Hague ne
made for himself dazzling position among his
fellow artists Fromeniin, A genial critic OF
Dutch art. did not respond with his accustomed
readiness TO the appeal Of THE Anatomy Les
son"-an appeal in which there is foreshadowed
the imperious note Of Rembrandts prime-and
he has passed some we-remembcred Judgments
uncn Il Yet after Fromcntin's worst structures
have been admitted the defects in the treatment
NJ the corpse and the lack Of the RembTandtesque
nrofundity I'm the celebration. II remains an UNI
cnuiyocal demonstration OF unique power KEN
brandt had still the sobricty Of the prevailing
school and still studied accuracy Of feature from
their placidy analytic point Of view; nut ne ma"
gone inmoas urably beyond De keyser ana inc
rest in psychological interest ard III preadlh an"
beauty of style. Commissions l"i P'' ""'''
poured IN upon him and by the time he narteu
the Young rich and handsome woman "ho'h ne
loved dcNotcdly. Saskia Won tylenborch, IN 1904
he was the foremost artist OF his dag. SaS'l"'
tho wife whose beauty he never tired Of ce1e-
brotinc brought him untolG happiness. He WAS
nassionatcly in love with her hut was enam-
CURED Of his art with equal fervor. HIS INDUSTRY
at this period wa. incredible. Masterpieces oi
pointing and etching issued from biz STUDIO III
which, at he same time. he was accum"'a'hS
the decorations and objects o; art when ne
valued for their own sake and ~ appropriate
accessories for his deeigns AZ his place In the
artistic world Of Holland grew more s"cur" ne
sought more and more to perfect his art accord
ing 70 the promptings Of his genius. and less
and less according to the prcjrdice' Of his sit'crs
and colleagues After q decade - cver-increaS-
inc triumph b. dcncd al Tho cherished conven-
lions " his public. and In THE Night Watch"
Of 1912 reached his climac'erIc and at the
Game time marked the turning of the tide on
which ne had go long ridden In safety and honor.
saslla died a few months later
n l,ichels first volume rightly pauses upon
the termination Of that fccund period In which
Remhrandt's powers were stimulated hy the
sunshine # domestic happiness and rendered
more asser,ivc by the hotter rays ~ pubic APP
,royal TIL. disoor,aut note az failure when
enters AZ this epoch springs from condition
~ things which carries the student into details
81 Dutch social and civic ne The spirit ~ Coz
operation and the national pride which had
erected the strongest hulwari:s ~ IN" Neither
lands were nowhere more effective than IN IN"
creation ~ military corporations whose patriot
ism was continually famed 10y the sense oi
local and personal distincti'n Each guild was
proud Of is civic power but proudcr oil Hfr1'
The IDEA Of organization was shared by ~"
leaders II commercial enterprise as we'll AZ by
the citizens ~ martial iu."linations and 10 the
love Of display which they all cultivated W.
owe the great Corporation pieces by Van der
Uelst Boil Halls and others which are among
the most spectacular canvascs in the museums
Of Holland We have only 10 compare The
Might Watch" Rembrandts great corporation
,ieco ~ Amster,lam. with the similar works 10y
Van de- !Iclst In the same city, or with ID"
PAINTINGS Of Halls at HARLEM. to see. at once.
why the supreme master dissatisfied the "Frhns
tanning COCO Company Of Muskcteers," which
was his patron. Por;rniture was what the
guilds wanted and poriraiture vas what was
,dvon to them by Van der IIelst and Halls OF
cc,,rsc pon,branlt WAS capable Of giving IL too.
and I'm greater perfection. lie had done 80 in
"'rhe Anatomy Lesson" Of 1852, and much later.
in 1861 he executed The matchless group In the
Rijks Museum. which Is known AZ "Thc Syndics
Of the Cloth Hall" a corporation piece distin-
puishcd by the very highest qualities of por-
traIture in evcry one Of i;s six figures. Bat in
1912 Rembrandt was burning with an ambition
which the painting Of THE Might Watch gave
him the chance to crafty. II required advets-
nv to make him complainant. In prosperity h"
would carry out his own ideas and suit himself
before all others and The Night Watch was
produced out Of the untrammced workings Of
his genius. II contains some portraits. some
that are superb. but 1t Is first and last pict-
Lrc Lingering with cagcrness over brilliant
scheme Of chiaroscuro. he made the picture
vehicle for one Of the almost musical mprovlsa-