After Rembrandt, Soutine. After Rembrandt and Soutine, Francis Bacon. Carcass (2019) by Caetano de Almeida renders tribute to the odd tradition of still life, to be fascinated by an animal’s flayed skin after slaughtering. More than just a comment about vanitas or death’s cruelty, the painters that dedicated themselves to a detailed representation of a dissected ox were probably contemplating their own existence in a moment of bewilderment. At least in Rembrandt’s case this is documented: the artist painted the ox during a difficult time in his life. At the beginning of the decade of 1650, overwhelmed by debts, Rembrandt went deeper in financial trouble and, finally in July 1656, he filed for bankruptcy. His home and belongings were sold, and he moved to a working class neighborhood, as the Art Historian Lisa Deam tells, who, shortly after, asks:
“Did Rembrandt feel stripped down and flayed when he painted the dead...ox? Did this image represent a way for him to express the rawness of bankruptcy or the peeling away of his livelihood? The artist may have glimpsed his own mortality in his slaughtered ox, but he also continued to paint more hopeful versions of himself. In his 1658 Self-Portrait in the Frick Collection, Rembrandt appears as a cross between a Renaissance artist and a magisterial king. In the context of the Dutch memento mori theme, this painting suggests a reversal of the seemingly inevitable movement toward death and decay: renewal of the flesh is possible after all, the portrait seems to state”.
Entrada actualizada el el 31 jul de 2019
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