Monday, April 7, 2008

looking at you


This is a very small (25.1 cm X 31.9 cm) Rembrandt in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. It is in a room at the end of a cavernous hallway. Its on a plinth in the middle of the room among many other, mostly small, Dutchish paintings. Its a jewel. There was another really good painting on the other side of the plinth that got smashed out of my brain the minute I saw the Rembrandt. Its a painter's painting: to the point, funny and perfectly painted. There you are in your studio, your eyes full of your work that you've denied the viewer, giving out only the place, the face and the profession (obsession). Its a calling card, a portrait, a joke and a great picture.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The MFA is a great museum, sadly overshadowed by the new glass ICA.