REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

Nude Man seated on the Ground with one Leg extended

Details
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)
Nude Man seated on the Ground with one Leg extended
etching and engraving
1646
on laid paper, without watermark
a very fine, tonal impression of the extremely rare first state (of three)
printing with great clarity and three-dimensionality
with inky plate edges
with small to narrow margins
in very good condition
Plate 98 x 168 mm.
Sheet 101 x 171 mm.
Provenance
Richard Houlditch Jr. (before 1736-1759), London (Lugt 2214, recto); possibly inherited from his father Richard Houlditch (circa 1659-1736) or bought from Arthur Pond (without mark, see Lugt 2038); probably his sale, London, 2 February 1745.
John Barnard (d. 1784), London (Lugt 1419); his sale, Thomas Philipe, London, 16 April 1798 (and following days), lot 226 (with others, '...fine, with a reverse') (£ 1.1; to Philipe).
With Thomas Philipe, London.
Sotheby’s, London, 4 February 1982, lot 167 (£ 9,477).
Sam Josefowitz (Lugt 6094); acquired at the above sale; then by descent to the present owners.
Literature
Bartsch, Hollstein 196; Hind 221; New Hollstein 234 (this impression cited)
Stogdon 81

Brought to you by

Tim Schmelcher
Tim Schmelcher International Specialist

Lot Essay

This very fine impression is an extremely rare example of the first state, one of only eight recorded, including two counterproofs, and it comes with grand provenance: from the collections of Arthur Pond, Richard Houlditch and John Barnard, whose initials on the reverse can faintly be seen on the front. Aside froma few small changes, Rembrandt polished the plate edges in the second state. Here, we can still the rough edges with their filing marks printing strongly, lending the sheet an almost continuous framing line.
The print is closely related to A nude Man seated before a Curtain (see lot 66), showing the same model in a different position, presumably from another life-drawing session. The present one is the most classical and arguably most elegant of the three etchings Rembrandt made of this young man. There is something touching about the way his head with the tousled hair is turned away from the draftsman, and the viewer. More than in the other two male nude studies, the light plays an important role in composition of the plate, as it falls from the right onto his back, left arm and buttock. The direction of the light and the extended leg balance out the composition, which is heavily weighted to the right and yet does not seem one-sided.
In the other two nude studies, Rembrandt felt inclined to somehow fill the empty space around the figures, but it is his magisterial use of the blank paper which make Nude Man seated on the Ground with one Leg extended one of the most starkly beautiful etchings in his oeuvre.

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