Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn is one of the greatest painters and etchers in European art and the most important in Dutch art history. Having accomplished success as a portrait painter in his youth years, Rembrandt's later were suffered by personal tragedy and financial hardships.

Rembrandt created etchings for nearly his entire career, from 1626 to 1660, when he was forced to sell his printing-press and almost abandoned etching. Only the troubled year of 1649 produced no dated work. He took easily to etching and, though he also learned to use a burin and partly engraved many plates, the freedom of etching technique was fundamental to his work. He was very closely involved in the whole process of printmaking, and must have printed at least early examples of his etchings himself.