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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pascal Bonafoux is an art historian and the author of a prize-winning book on self-portraits, among many others. He lives in Paris.