Rating: 
Summary: Artistic insight
Review: One of my favorite paintings is "The Polish Rider" purportedly by Rembrandt. A few years ago , I read a disheartening article in The New Yorker Magazine about a panel of international Rembrandt experts who had decided Rembrandt did not paint "The Polish Rider." Later that same year, I was in Amsterdam and had an opportunity to visit the Six House and the painting of Jan Six by Rembrandt. I had a long conversation with the young art critic who was the curator/guide at the house. He assured me the Rembrant panel was correct in their assumption that "The Polish Rider" had not been painted by Rembrandt. I suggested whether or not Rembrandt painted it, it is a fabulous painting, and I asked this young man if he had ever seen the painting--he had not. After visiting the Six House, I sat outside on a bench with one of the gardeners and he told me how he felt the day he saw U.S. paratroopers dropping from the sky to save the Netherlands from the Nazis. He said his faith had been restored that day but he would not have belived it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. I hope it doesn't sound too trite to say that reading Schma's book restored my faith in my own opinion. Schama says he believes Rembrandt did indeed paint "The Polish Rider" and thereby places himself at odds with a formidable group of experts. Schama also presents empirical evidence why he beieves these experts are wrong. But you be the judge. Form your own opinion. Go to New York, visit the painting, and look into the soldier's eyes. I think you will agree who painted this masterpiece. But first, take the time to read Schama's book.
Rating:
Summary: GUARANTEED, this one never goes out of style!!!
Review: Reading,or even browsing,this huge achievement simply overwhelms. Now it's obvious that all old masters books are immortal (especially if they have pictures) since the works have already passed the time test. But Mr. Schama's REMBRANDT's EYES must surpass just about every old master book in every way. It's one of those works that makes you glad we live in a society that can mass produce this kind of thing!!If you're an expert (which I am definitely not),I'll bet you'll totally agree with me. If you're a skeptic,or even a beer guzzling barhopper,you should still buy this book. Browse,read the author's insights,and be enthralled that a fellow like Rembrandt existed 350 years ago. For he is like Shakespeare,a monumental genius,born about 40 years after the Bard.But as a painter, he is a heck of a lot more accessible.His art is universal,no translations required,and no Cliff Notes either! Accompanied by beautiful photos,and brilliant commentary on many of his great works, you can buy this now,and know it will give you pleasure at the amazing creativity of a universal genius,even in old age! BTW, the artist's self portraits are only many of the wonders here,and they do show him in his older years.
Rating:
Summary: perceptive portrait of r.v.r.
Review: Rembrandt left behind more self-portraits than any artist before or since. With his new book Rembrandt's Eyes, historian Simon Schama has added a new portrait of the artist, this one in meticulously and exhaustively researched, rhapsodically written prose. Schama's heavy tome makes every attempt to be a definitive work on the painter, and it succeeds. First and foremost it is a narrative of the life and work of Rembrandt van Rijn, although calling it a "biography" somehow sounds reductive. It is equal parts analysis of Rembrandt's painting, documentation of his life, and history of seventeenth century Holland, so sections of the book can be read with profit by anyone studying the artist, his art, or the social history of the times. The Rembrandt of Schama's book is a complex man, with hubris, greed and an enormous talent for portraiture. Early on he takes the monumentally cocky step of signing only his first name -- no "van Rijn" -- as if he knew his paintings would be studied for centuries to come. His understanding of humans and their personae was without parallel, Schama writes. "No painter would ever understand the theatricality of social life as well as Rembrandt. He saw the actors in men and the men in actors." As his title suggests, Schama finds special messages in the eyes of Rembrandt's subjects. He notes that in art education painters were taught to put special care into their depiction of the whites of eyes, yet in many of Rembrandt's works -- Schama points to "The Artist in his Studio" (1629) -- the eyes are dull, dark pits. "When Rembrandt made eyes," Schama says, "he did so purposefully," and so in Rembrandt's Eyes he continually returns to the haunting eyes the painter painted. Most of all, Schama's book is a meditative, entranced attempt to get behind the faces we see in Rembrandt's self-portraits. Schama reads Rembrandt's self-portraits in various costumes -- as a merchant, as a soldier, for example -- as indications of his elusiveness, as if each portrait were meant to conceal rather than reveal its subject. In analysis of one self-portrait, Schama writes that the painter "has disappeared inside his persona," inscrutable beyond the dead dark eyes of the painting. The artist's disguise hides his true self, and the critic is left to speculate. It seems that in this case Schama is grasping (as art historians must) at facts and attitudes that can never be certainly known, constructing and imputing elaborate guesses that fail precisely because the painter has succeeded. Schama's reverence for Rembrandt and art in general winds up being both a virtue and a vice. The book begins with an epigraph from Paul Valery: "We should apologize for daring to speak about painting." It is difficult to imagine a guide through this world who is more well-versed and in love with his subject. But do we really want our biographers to be respectful to the point of silence? Nobody wants to learn about the masters from a guide who finds them too sublime to defile with comment. Granted, a hefty book like this is hardly "silence," but Schama's hushed tones do get distracting. This book has the virtue of being as close to exhaustive about its subject as one could hope. There is little psychological interpretation that Schama leaves undone, and little consequential biographical detail that he leaves unmentioned. Rembrandt's Eyes, a mammoth book that takes on with grace the equally mammoth task of explaining what is behind the brooding eyes of Rembrandt's portraits, will be a definitive work on the painter and his work.
Rating: 
Summary: big and baggy
Review: Simon Schama is a brilliant man. He knows Rembrandt, Holland, Rubens and many topics backwards and forwards. But he has no dramatic sense. He has no gift for compression. And his prose vacillates between insiteful and flatulent. So reading this book becomes a very long and tiresome chore. I'm no expert on Rembrandt, but I have read better analysis of the paintings in other books. Overall, a tiresome and uninspiring effort.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece worthy of Rembrandt's life and works
Review: Simon Schama's REMBRANDT'S EYES is undoubtedly one of the authoritative works on Rembrandt's life and paintings. Schama vividly depicts the unparalled and tortured genius of Rembrandt, a man who was brilliant in success and even more so during tragedy. To understand Rembrandt's paintings is to understand the man behind each brushstroke: strong-willed, prideful, and uncompromising in his art. Schama conveys the essence of Rembrandt with such force and effectiveness that we cannot help but appreciate Rembrandt's tragic life and artistic genius. REMBRANDT'S EYES contains beautiful illustrations of all of Rembrandt's major works; the analysis of each is detailed, clear, and interesting. Through the course of the book, you will be fascinated by Rembrandt's self-portraits and the level of understanding with which he painted himself. Perhaps no other artist has given us such a powerful autobiography without the use of a single written word. This deep understanding of the human soul is evident in all of his works. Schama explains Rembrandt's paintings and his techniques in a comprehensive and powerful manner. If you are interested at all in the truly unique and fascinating genius of Rembrandt, REMBRANDT'S EYES is a must. I would highly recommend REMBRANDT'S EYES to any person interested in art history, Dutch painting, or just Rembrandt. This book also serves as a powerful autobiography of a man with a very interesting story. Be forewarned though: this book is very long, and putting it down may be hard.
Rating:
Summary: A well researched and compelling written biography.
Review: Simon Schama's rich biography of Rembrandt, Rembrandt's Eyes uses his pictures to reconstruct his life, weaving descriptions and interpretations of his works with a dialogue which examines Rembrandt's life and times anew. This is a recommended pick for those who already have a more casual perspective of the artist, and who are seeking in-depth information. Artistic criticism, literature and scholarship blends in an excellent survey.
Rating:
Summary: A Tour De Force
Review: This is a brilliant, beautiful piece of work by Mr. Schama. As mentioned elsewhere, it is really a dual biography of Rubens and Rembrandt. But it is much more than that. It is also an in depth portrait of 17th century Holland, politically and socially. The book holds your interest because it constantly shifts gears from talking about Rubens/Rembrandt to telling you what was going on in Antwerp and Amsterdam at the time and then you get to see the wonderful pictures and to read Mr. Schama's sparkling commentaries. I have read almost all of Mr. Schama's books and have always admired his writing style. This is not a dry, academic treatise. All of the characters come to life as they do in the best novels. Unless you are an expert on Rembrandt I also think you will be surprised at some of the paintings, drawings and etchings that are reproduced in this book. I am an art lover but have mainly read up on the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. I didn't know much about Rembrandt other than remembering that he did a lot of self-portraits and that he was very big on chiaroscuro. I thought in terms of there being a sameness to the style in his works but after reading this book you will see how much his art changed throughout his life. There are a few landscapes that have a Romantic- almost Caspar David Friedrich- look to them. Especially in the later work with the rough handling of the paint you can see an influence on Cezanne and Van Gogh. My only complaint about the book, and it is a very minor complaint, is that maybe 3 or 4 of the reproductions are too small to see some of the details that the author is describing. But this is a wonderful book. I am only sorry that now that I have finished it I will have to wait 5 years or so to see what Mr. Schama comes up with next!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on the Arts in Years
Review: This is the best book on the arts that I've seen in years. Simon Schama can really tell a story, for one thing. More importantly, his interpretations of individual paintings are frequently dazzling, sometimes going for as much as a dozen pages or so. He usually begins by bringing historical background to bear on his explanation of a painting, and ultimately he always discusses the painting's composition, brushwork, etc. I find myself looking again at the paintings (in the excellent reproductions) and seeing more and more things. Some reviewers (in journals) have complained that Schama makes too much of Rubens' supposed influence on Rembrandt, and that the he spends a couple of hundred pages on the Flemish painter. But since Rubens is also one of the greatest painters ever (though very different from Rembrandt), and since Schama is as good on Rubens as he is on Rembrandt, what's to complain about? It's just a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on the Arts in Years
Review: This is the best book on the arts that I've seen in years. Simon Schama can really tell a story, for one thing. More importantly, his interpretations of individual paintings are frequently dazzling, sometimes going for as much as a dozen pages or so. He usually begins by bringing historical background to bear on his explanation of a painting, and ultimately he always discusses the painting's composition, brushwork, etc. I find myself looking again at the paintings (in the excellent reproductions) and seeing more and more things. Some reviewers (in journals) have complained that Schama makes too much of Rubens' supposed influence on Rembrandt, and that the he spends a couple of hundred pages on the Flemish painter. But since Rubens is also one of the greatest painters ever (though very different from Rembrandt), and since Schama is as good on Rubens as he is on Rembrandt, what's to complain about? It's just a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't have a focus and objective....very boring
Review: When i bought this book, I thought that it would be an amazing and definitive book about one of the most brilliant genius of art.
But i was wrong, this is doesn't have a point, it goes to the biography of Rubens fathers, passing thru history, economy, and anything else you imagine, this is so borring for the people that actually want to know about Rembrandt and his work. So if you are looking for a book abou Rembrand and his work, this IS NOT....
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