Stick Figure or Realistic Masterpiece: Holland Dog Art

     Every country around the world has its own unique art style. Even if you don't have a degree in painting style recognition or something of the like, it is clear to see that paintings differ from one place to the next. It was truly interesting to shift the focus to specifically Holland art. Both articles brought up many interesting points and highlighted the beauty of this country's style. Although there are many points I could address, I plan to mainly talk about the way dogs were drawn in Holland rather than the dogs themselves.

Source Image: Wikimedia Commons

Holland

    Rembrandt van Rijn, in particular, provides an excellent perspective on art. Rembrandt used dogs to enhance his paintings of biblical events. However, it wasn't the dogs themselves that truly brought an understanding to the art's meaning, but rather the way Rembrandt portrayed them. In this course, we have viewed many different images of dogs. Although some of them seem more basic than others, none seem to be more simple than Rembrandt's. Truly, he uses direct outlines and small changes in light to get his meaning across without all the extra coloring and details.

Source Image: Wikimedia Commons

Rembrandt van Rijn

    How could more simple dogs promote greater in paintings? Is it not all those extra details that give us the cues on what to think about? Well, I agree that some of these details do in fact promote deeper understanding. The true genius of Rembrandt, in my personal opinion, though is that he is able to create a very similar level of understanding without actually focusing on the dog it represents. I think of it this way, the past painted dogs have represented different beliefs and aspects of life. Rembrandt's dogs, however, guide you to these rather than represent them. It's like an invisible guide(dog) is leading you towards the artist's purpose.

Source Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art at picryl.com

The Good Samaritan

    In this period of time, many people were focusing on religious beliefs. Quite a few did not believe that creatures like dogs could have souls, but they did believe that dogs were important to understand God and His world. In other words, dogs were a part of nature and most groups believed that connecting with nature created a path towards understanding God. By using simpler art forms, Rembrandt was able to highlight this idea. Dogs were just lines on the page, part of God's greater plan. They didn't have souls, and therefore did not have as much depth, so they did not need as many details. But since they were still God's creations, they could be used to promote understanding and faith.

Source Image: Wikimedia Commons

The Smaller Plate

    There is a lot more we could explore with Rembrandt's simplistic use of dogs in biblical paintings, but I am satisfied for now with the brief point I made about his art style. Honestly, I've noticed that we can get so caught up in trying to interpret every little detail we see that we can miss out on the overall meaning. These articles provided an opportunity to do just that, to step back and get that basic understanding first. So in the future when you're feeling bad about your stick figure drawing, remember that sometimes simple may actually be better for proving your point.