Looked at

Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference

in the British Library, yesterday.

I naively was expecting to be able to identify some magical powers and qualities in Rembrandt’s drawings that his pupils’ works didn’t have.

In the event, a certain fluidity and even the devil-may-care quality to Rembrandt’s lines is certainly evident on the whole (although a couple of his pupils have similar hubris) but the difference is in the quality of humanity that he manages to get into the faces – in particular that peculiar empathy he has for kindness and benevolence.

So it is probably worthwhile to allow myself to be distracted by features in life classes. The portrait element can be celebrated – this is good news for a recovering portrait painter! (PPs anonymous can wait)

So,

this is the latest batch of RA Life Class drawings, faces included!

i

Also blog in the mirror is gold (with the right g)