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Rembrandt painted nearly 80 self-portraits throughout his life that capture the emotions and experiences he faced as he aged. He lost his wife and children and faced bankruptcy in his later years. His self-portraits provide unique insight into his complex character and journey through life. While some stereotypes present older people as weak or sad, Rembrandt's last self-portrait at the end of his life depicts a expression of freedom, courage, and self-respect that challenges common ageist views of aging. Analyzing Rembrandt's life experiences through his art affected the writer's understanding of societal attitudes towards seniors which often involve misconceptions rather than comprehending aging as a natural process everyone experiences.

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Kim Marin
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29 views

Blog 1

Rembrandt painted nearly 80 self-portraits throughout his life that capture the emotions and experiences he faced as he aged. He lost his wife and children and faced bankruptcy in his later years. His self-portraits provide unique insight into his complex character and journey through life. While some stereotypes present older people as weak or sad, Rembrandt's last self-portrait at the end of his life depicts a expression of freedom, courage, and self-respect that challenges common ageist views of aging. Analyzing Rembrandt's life experiences through his art affected the writer's understanding of societal attitudes towards seniors which often involve misconceptions rather than comprehending aging as a natural process everyone experiences.

Uploaded by

Kim Marin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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• Answer the following questions.

1. What are the main themes of your example?

Rembrandt's self-portraits capture the fleeting moments and emotions in his life

in a medium of art he loves. His oeuvre provides the viewers with a visual diary

of his life through the years. It gives us unique insight into his life and character

as we also look inward with our perspective of our own lives and development.

2. What life experiences specifically are the subjects of your example? E.g.,

retirement, lost love, changing body?

Rembrandt painted nearly 80 self-portraits in his lifetime. He had a challenging

personal life, and throughout the paintings of his self-portraits, he lost the love of

his life, his wife, and all his children. He also faced bankruptcy and had to auction

off his possessions to pay off his creditors.

3. What does the example you chose say about ageing? Seniors in general?

It tells a fascinating and captivating story about growing in life and that growing

old results from various external factors. But not only that but also that growing

old is experiencing the life you lived—every second of it.

4. In your example, identify any stereotypes or common myths about ageing—

comment on why they may be false.

Some stereotypes are present in the analysis of Rembrandt's paintings, including

the notion that he looks confident and might in his early self-portraits. At the

same time, he seems sad, weak, and sickly in his last portrait, a common myth

about ageing. These are false assumptions because people are minimizing his

complex nature of self into something general.


5. Is "ageism" present in your example? Explain.

In my interpretation, Rembrandt's self-portraits overcome ageism, and I think he

is aware of what he's doing. People often distinguish dying with old age as

something sad and lonely, but in his known last self-portrait, dating from the year

of his death, he shows an expression that displays freedom, courage, and self-

respect. He shows ageing in a different light through his art.

• Using specific references, reflect on the answers provided in relation to the material

presented in class (text, lectures, videos). How do you think society views ageing

and seniors? Identify your emotional reactions to the example chosen. Does your

example make you feel hopeful, sad, angry? How did this assignment affect your

understanding of popular attitudes towards seniors and your own attitude towards

seniors?

In this digital age, society tends to focus more on youth and relate it to positive

implications, but "older people often receive mixed messages from society." (Green,

2021, slide 21) One challenge to society's clear idea of ageing is that few comprehend

the ageing process until they reach that age. As a result, misconceptions and

preconceptions about the elderly and ageing are widespread. There are many

misconceptions about the realities of the ageing society. But luckily, people are now

starting to learn more about ageism, and there are "more positive interaction between

younger and older people." (Green, 2021, slide 24)

Rembrandt was one of the greatest artists of all time. He was also a teacher, an

art dealer, a son, a husband, and a father. His self-portraits explore the complexities of
being a human. I was in awe the first time I saw his last self-portrait. It made me feel all

kinds of emotions, and as I dived into his personal life, reading his story and how he

was just like one of us. He had passion, quirks and simplicities. He had a family, a

house, and he had hobbies. It made me realize that life may seem complicated

sometimes, but mostly it's just straightforward. The simple things are what make out an

extraordinary life. And we can see this in his paintings. He was just a simple man who

depicted himself in his art, but he lived out to be one of the greatest artists of all time,

and until now, people still appreciate and relate to his works. In the end, people did not

focus on his age in his last portrait, but instead, they viewed him as a man who had

lived through life full of challenges, experiences, joyous moments, and everything in

between. And I think we should all learn from that and view people as people, devoid of

age, race, and sexuality.


References

Green, M. (2021). GWL137: Week 1. [PowerPoint slides]. Learn@Seneca.

https://my.senecacollege.ca/

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