Remember all those art history classes where you sat, sketching furiously, in an auditorium with 300 other students listening to a professor giving highlights of slides of artwork by the masters - - the more obscure pieces not found in your 500 lb. textbook, but which would surely be on the exam. . .many of them in black and white? Well, I already knew who Rembrandt was when I walked into that class, but when I graduated, I could name and picture in my brain lots and lots of his works. . .some in color, but many in black and white.
Last year I had the pleasure of visiting a traveling exhibition of Rembrandt's work at the Phoenix Art Museum. By now I had seen most of those works in color, as very few books publish art in black and white anymore, and had seen a few of the actual works at other museums. But, the publishers of art books include only the most popular of works, museums house only a few of each master's works, and there were still others in my memory from college slide presentations that I had never again laid eyes on, until the exhibit.
It must be wonderful for someone who has never seen a master's work to see an original for the first time. I think it may be even more amazing for those of us who grew up with black and white images of a master's work in our brains to behold the masterpieces in all their splendor. The sense of recognition, plus the magnificence of the works, equals moments of sheer amazement.
Today's MMM theme is "Men". Rembrandt van Rijn is my main man of art! He certainly deserves better, but I've cut him from a Dover image sheet and glued him to a background made from an old dictionary page, Tsukineko ink, home-made salmon colored crackle paint, letter rub-ons and a border hand-doodled with a black Sharpie pen.
beautiful collage ! great card ! lovely
Posted by: filetta | March 17, 2008 at 02:27 PM
really a great man and a
beautiful atc!
Posted by: Herma | March 17, 2008 at 02:35 PM
Your Rembrandt looks marvelous, love the colors and your doodling is a perfect edging for the piece!
Posted by: ~*~ Patty | March 17, 2008 at 02:41 PM
awesome, Barbara!! i see you have been very busy since i last visited your blog
regards ..Pxxx
Posted by: pauline | March 17, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Wooooooooow what a great Men. So stunning design Barbara. Gorgeous.
Posted by: Sandy | March 17, 2008 at 10:43 PM
Fabulous!
Posted by: rein | March 18, 2008 at 01:40 AM
You sure have a way with words Barbara; I enjoyed hearing about your time in Art class. Humm.... homemade crackle paint...love the collage work and the way you put it together.
Posted by: Barbara | March 18, 2008 at 03:12 AM
Aaaah, how fantastic is this ?!
Posted by: Silvia | March 20, 2008 at 05:00 PM