Rembrandt's Self-Portraits A Study in Seventeenth-Century Identity |
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Author:
| Chapman, H. Perry |
ISBN: | 978-0-691-04061-5 |
Publication Date: | Jan 1990 |
Publisher: | Princeton University Press
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Book Format: | Hardback |
List Price: | USD $65.00 |
Book Description:
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H. Perry Chapman has produced the first comprehensive treatment of the entire body of Rembrandt's self-portraits in their cultural and historical setting and in the context of the artist's life. Prevailing scholarship has tried to discredit the idea that the self-portraits stemmed from any particular inner need, but Chapman counters by presenting fascinating evidence that they represent a conscious and progressive quest for individual identity in a truly modern sense. "H. Perry...
More Description
H. Perry Chapman has produced the first comprehensive treatment of the entire body of Rembrandt's self-portraits in their cultural and historical setting and in the context of the artist's life. Prevailing scholarship has tried to discredit the idea that the self-portraits stemmed from any particular inner need, but Chapman counters by presenting fascinating evidence that they represent a conscious and progressive quest for individual identity in a truly modern sense. "H. Perry Chapman, in my view, gives us the Rembrandt we need in the 1990s. . . . [Her] sensitivity to questions of style and expression, combined with original research, leads to a conclusion . . . that `Rembrandt's lifelong preoccupation with self-portraiture can be seen as a necessary process of identity formation or self-definition'--in short, autobiography."--Walter Liedtke, The Journal of Art "Chapman is a graceful writer. Her arguments are balanced, well documented, and vigorously pursued. . . . The publication of this book is cause for gratitude and joy."--Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor