Rembrandt van Rijn
Greatest Dutch painter, master of light and shadow
Most quoted
"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 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."
— from Attributed saying
"I have three regrets in my life: I regret that I have not learned to play the violin, I regret that I have not learned to speak French, and I regret that I have not taken more time to enjoy life."
— from Attributed saying
"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web."
— from Attributed saying (Picasso)
All quotes by Rembrandt van Rijn (319)
Choose only one master—Nature.
Without atmosphere a painting is dead.
Painting is the grandchild of Nature.
A painting is complete when you can stop and look at it.
The more I draw, the more I see.
Light reveals, shadow conceals.
I must learn to express the inner light.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but truth is in the soul.
Every man has his price, but mine is painted on canvas.
The artist's hand is guided by the heart.
In painting, as in life, one must capture the moment.
Shadows are the soul of the picture.
I paint not what I see, but what I feel.
Fortune favors the bold brush.
Life is short, art is eternal.
The face tells the story the words cannot.
To paint a portrait is to seize a man.
In the studio, solitude is my companion.
Colors are the smiles of light.
Adversity has sharpened my vision.
Contemporaries of Rembrandt van Rijn
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669).