Rembrandt’s Hat (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Bernard Malamud
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1960's
- Setting: New York City
- Principal Characters: Arkin, Rubin
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Art or artists, Emotions, Sculpting or sculptors, Hats
- Locales: New York, NY
The Story
After his wife left him, Rubin, the sculptor, took to wearing various odd hats. Now, at age forty-six, he favors a visorless, soft, round white cap. Arkin, the art historian at the New York City art school where Rubin also teaches, thinks that the hat “illumines a lonely inexpressiveness arrived at after years of experience.” He tells Rubin that the hat resembles Rembrandt's hat—the one that Rembrandt wears in the profound self-portraits of his middle age. The day after Arkin makes this remark, Rubin stops wearing the hat and begins to avoid him.
...[The entire page is 1328 words long]
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