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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Five: Stimulating the imagination with “opposites and contradictions” > Fragmenting Rembrandt, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2005
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18-JUN-2005

Fragmenting Rembrandt, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2005

The most famous of all the Dutch painters was born in Leiden in 1606. I found a poster of his self-portrait displayed in a window there. I’ve turned it into an image rich in contradiction. Shooting from the side, I’ve softly diffused the face of Rembrandt, yet made the frame of the window sharp and unforgiving. The frame divides the painter’s face into eleven parts, incarcerating him in a virtual prison. We would expect to view him whole. Instead, I give him to you as fragments of time. Once again, I ask your imagination to take over and make of this image whatever it will.

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Phil Douglis07-Jul-2005 00:18
Marisa, your remarkable comments always give me fresh insights into my own work. I was well aware of creating a symbolic puzzle here by photographing Rembrandt as a grid of 11 frames. But I did not notice the small additional window frame reflected in Rembrandt's head until you mentioned it. Now that you've called it to my attention, my eye always goes to it. To me, this image still portrays Rembrandt as a puzzle. As you say, each piece has its own form, time, and space as in life, adding up to a "complete" painter. I still feel the meaning of this puzzle has yet to be figured out, because Rembrandt, for all his fame, remains an illusory figure. But now I see that Rembrandt might have been somewhat of a puzzle to himself as well, because that is what the little reflected window that you point out here says to me. Thanks, as always, Marisa, for this thoughtful contribution.
Guest 06-Jul-2005 23:05
Pieces making the life... we can certainly divided our life in fragments, parts, some of them bigger than other... maybe the cicles in which the life is divided and, finally, integrated.
Here we have 11 pieces that represents, in your vision, Rembrandt's life story. I really like the way you used the frame to create this division, because the fragments are not equal one to another. Each one has its own form, time and space... as in the real life. And all this fragments together, shows a 'complete' painter.
But what also caught my attention since the first time I saw the picture, is the little reflecion of that window in Rembrandt's face, particularly his head... in a way represents to me, his different paintings... as if his mind and brain 'see and think' in picture format.
And also, here we have this window that divided what we see (in pieces), and what's beyond that fragmented window: the unity.
Phil Douglis02-Jul-2005 19:34
It can also be seen as a puzzle, Kal. Each fragment leads to the next, up and down and side to side. Rembrandt's life and work is still shrouded in mystery. We have yet to truly figure him out, and probably never will. I could have just as well titled this picture "Enigma."
Kal Khogali02-Jul-2005 13:04
Phil, when I first saw this image it struck me that it was as close to a natural collage as could ever be possible. Each section of that window is like a picture on it's own, and together they make the whole. What amazes and interests me is that almost anyone of these sections on it's own would make the veiwer think of Rembrandt, but togther they become an original and almost modern version of that original painting. As always you bring a new vision to what you see, and here you have fragmented, but also recreated Rembrandt.
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