Rembrandt Laughing
Rembrandt·1628
Historical Context
Rembrandt painted Rembrandt Laughing around 1628, a small self-portrait from his Leiden period depicting himself with an open-mouthed laugh. The painting belongs to his series of early self-studies exploring different facial expressions — an exercise in capturing transient emotion that developed his extraordinary ability to convey psychological states. Now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, the painting reveals the young Rembrandt's experimental approach to self-portraiture.
Technical Analysis
The expressive, spontaneous quality of the open-mouthed laugh is achieved through quick, energetic brushwork, with the strong raking light catching the young artist's animated features against a dark background.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the open-mouthed laugh — a transient expression captured with the rapid, energetic brushwork appropriate to its fleeting nature.
- ◆Look at the strong raking light catching the animated features: catching laughter requires different technical strategies than capturing composed dignity.
- ◆Observe how this small self-portrait serves as a technical study in the rendering of an emotion that is difficult to paint without looking forced.
- ◆Find the vitality in the young Rembrandt's expression — a twenty-two-year-old artist who finds his own laugh worth studying.
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