"Rembrandt and Velazquez" レンブラントとベラスケス

June 14, 2020 ·

Rembrandt and the portrait in Amsterdam, 1590-1670

The "Rembrandt Exhibition", which was suspended due to the coronavirus crisis, has resumed at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid.

Van Gogh was the reason I wanted to become a painter, but the person I aimed for in my work was Rembrandt, who also influenced Van Gogh.

I was fascinated by the "light" that seems to radiate from his paintings and the solid "material". From then on, I began my ongoing research into painting materials.

I haven't seen this exhibition yet, but if I did, I wouldn't be able to say anything.

Rembrandt lived in early 17th-century Holland, which was on the march toward modernity. At that time, the Netherlands, which had taken control of the sea from Spain, was at the height of its prosperity.

In such a bubble-era society, paintings sold like hot cakes. He used his apprentices to make copies of his best-selling paintings and sold them as Rembrandt. Even now, it is difficult to distinguish between the work of a disciple and the original work of Rembrandt.

It can be said that he was a first-class "selling painter". More and more of his paintings were sold through auctions similar to those held at a fish market. And he amassed a huge fortune at a young age. 　

Ever since the Dutch converted to Calvinism during the Religious Revolution, orders for paintings from churches that prohibited idol worship had ceased. However, instead, the citizen class sought paintings as household items.

Owning a painting, which until then could only be seen in churches, was a symbol of culture and wealth for them. They especially liked portraits.

However, there are limits to sales. If paintings were distributed to every household, there wouldn't be much demand for them in the small Netherlands.

The Dutch economy was devastated by the war with England, the bubble economy burst, and Rembrandt, a spendthrift, found himself in deep debt.

After going bankrupt, Rembrandt, on the contrary, accelerated his quest for beauty and began to face the theme of "creation" more purely.

And he started to paint what he really wanted to express, stepping into a realm that no one else had reached. As a high school student, I was fascinated by Rembrandt's later works.

At exactly the same time as Rembrandt during the Dutch Golden Age, there was the painter Velázquez, who died in the shadow of Spain's decline.

Velázquez lived his entire life in obedience as a court painter. In his final years, he was also made the head of the Royal Palace, and in 1660 he was assigned to prepare the wedding of the daughter of Philip IV to King Louis XIV of France, and died the same year from the overwork and stress.

He painted ``Las Meninas'' during busy periods of work at court.

Even that painting was a secret prayer made by the king for the fate of the Habsburg family's inheritance. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2067590913322956&set=a.293994994015899&type=3&theater

Did Velasquez really have a painting that he really wanted to paint throughout his life?

Why was he able to keep his inquisitive spirit burning until the end, even in an environment of pressure from orders from within the royal palace and the strict restrictions of Catholicism, which risked being accused of heresy?

It seems that his interest was not in the "subject" of what to paint, but in the search for "painting" itself.

In the 17th century, the harmony and order of the Renaissance began to collapse. The existing painting techniques could not keep up with the new system of thought, and a new technique was required.

Rather than approach reality through ``faith'' as advocated by the conservative ideas of the time and scholastic philosophy, it was a search for truth using human reason, that is, ``the light of nature.''

It can be said to be a visual revolution shared by Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer in the 17th century. They probably did it with paint rather than words, like their contemporary, the French philosopher Descartes.

2020年6月14日 · プライバシー設定: 公開

Rembrandt and the portrait in Amsterdam, 1590-1670 コロナウイルス危機で中断されていた「レンブラント展」が再開された。 場所はティッセン美術館。

私が画家を志すきっかけになったのはゴッホだが、作品の目標となったのがゴッホにも影響を与えていたレンブラントだった。彼の絵の中から放射されているかのような「光」と、重厚な「マチエール」に魅了された。それ以来、私は今も続いている絵画材料の研究を始めた。まだ、この展覧会を見ていないが、もし見ていれば、なにも語れないだろう。

レンブラントは近代に向かって驀進を続けていた１７世紀初期のオランダで生きた。その頃、スペインから制海権を奪ったオランダは繁栄の絶頂を極めていた。 そんなバブル期社会で、絵は飛ぶように売れた。弟子を使って彼の売れ筋の絵画のコピーをさせ、それにレンブラントの作品として売りまくった。だから今でも弟子の作品かレンブラントの真作か見分けがつきにくい。

彼は第一級の「売り絵作家」だったといってよい。魚市場の競り下げ方式でどんどん彼の絵画は売りたてられていった。そして彼は若くして巨万の富を築く。宗教革命でオランダ人がカルバン派に改宗して以来、偶像崇拝を禁じられた教会からの絵画注文は途絶えていた。だが、代わって市民階級は家庭備品として絵画作品を求める。それまでは教会でしか見ることが出来なかった絵を所有することは、彼らにとっての文化と富の象徴だったからだ。特に肖像画は好まれた。

しかし販売にも限界がある。各家庭に絵画作品が行き渡ってしまうと、狭いオランダにはそんなに需要がない。 イギリスとの戦争でオランダの経済が疲弊し、バブルもはじけ、浪費家だったレンブラントは途端に借金地獄に苦しむ。だが破産してからのレンブラントは美の探究心が加速され、さらに純粋に「創造」という主題に向き合い始めた。そして彼は本当に自分の描きたい絵を描き始め、前人未到の領域に踏み込んでいった。 高校生だった私が魅了されたのはレンブラント晩年の作品群だったのだ。

栄光のオランダの光に焼かれたレンブラントと全く同時代に、衰退のスペインの影に殉じた画家ベラスケスがいた。 ベラスケスは生涯を宮廷画家として従順に生きた。最晩年に王宮配室長も兼任させられ、１６６０年、フェリペ４世の娘とフランス国王ルイ１４世との結婚式の準備を任され、その過労とストレスで同年死ぬ。

彼は宮廷での仕事の忙しい時間の間に「ラス・メニーナス」を描いた。 その絵ですら、国王がハプスブルグ家相続の命運を秘密裏に祈願した作品であった。https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2067590913322956&set=a.293994994015899&type=3&theater 一体、ベラスケスは生涯を通じて、本当に自分が心から描きたい絵があったのだろうか？ 王宮内からの注文と、異端糾問というリスクを負った厳しいカソリックの制約とのプレッシャーの環境でも、彼は最後まで探究心を燃やし続けることが出来たのはなぜか？

それは、彼の関心は何を描くかという「主題」ではなく、「絵画」そのものへの探求だったのではないか。 １７世紀という時代はルネッサンスという調和と秩序が大きく崩れ始めていた。新しい思考体系にそれまでの絵画技法では追いついていかず、新しい技法が要請されていたのだ。

それが、当時の保守的思想、スコラ哲学が説く「信仰」を通しての現実へのアプローチではなく、人間の持つ理性、つまり「自然の光」を用いての真理の探求であり、１７世紀のレンブラント、ベラスケス、フェルメールに共通する視覚革命といえる。彼らは実にそれを、同時代のフランスの哲学者デカルトのように言葉でなく絵の具でやってのけたのだ。