Rembrandt Revisited

Of the many paintings I have created over the years, this one has always been one of my favorites. It's a painting of an old building that sits on main street in Rembrandt, Iowa which is about an hour east of where we live. I painted it in 1995 based on photos I shot on a backroads Iowa road trip taken nearly 20 years ago.

Even in 1995 the building had already seen its better days. The main street businesses that once may have thrived behind these doors and windows were gone. All that was left was the wear and tear from passing years of neglect, but it still stood straight and tall trying to maintain some sense of dignity.

Rembrandt, Iowa - painted in 1995

Well, this past summer, Denise and I spent a day cruising the backroads of NW Iowa and we happened to pass through Rembrandt once again. The building is there but it looks a bit different these days. Below is a photo as it looks today.

photo of the same building in 2013

While it basically looks the same in many ways, there are many details that show additional signs of aging and of use. I'm guessing it has primarily been used as a building for storing miscellaneous  "stuff", but each rotting window, patched board, and stored artifact has a story to tell. That's what I love about the original painting, and now many years later, it has new stories to tell.

I painted it way back in 1995 and it still hangs in our living room and I never really never tire of looking at it.