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Lot Essay
The present sheet of the so-called Woman with the Arrow is a particularly pleasing and atmospheric impression of this rare and somewhat mysterious print, with much selective tone especially on the curtain and bed at right, suggesting a dappled light coming in from a window.
As far as we can tell from the drawings and prints of Rembrandt and his pupils, there were two distinct periods during which Rembrandt organised or participated in live drawing classes: one with a young man, around 1646 (see lot 85), and one between 1658-1661, with a female model (see lots 87 & 88).
The practice of nude drawing classes emerged in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century, as small groups of like-minded artists and their pupils met in the privacy of artists' studios. This contrasted with the development in other European capitals and art academies, where mostly male nudes were drawn from life under strict rules of decorum and propriety. The shift towards working directly from the fully naked female model in the intimacy of the studio led to a degree of naturalism and informality entirely new in the history of art.
The Woman with the Arrow belongs to a small group of six etchings of a naked or partially dressed women, all presumably depicting the same person. The plate is dated 1661 at lower left, making it Rembrandt's penultimate print. It is closely related to a drawing attributed to Johannes Raven (circa 1633⁄34-1662), who drew the woman in a similar position, but from the front and with both arms raised, very likely on the same day that Rembrandt sketched her. It is unclear whether Rembrandt himself participated in these nude drawing classes with pen and paper only - and subsequently turned some of his sketches into etchings - or occasionally worked directly onto the copper plate and outlined the figure and overall composition on the spot. Two curious elements of the present print suggest the latter: the woman's figure is depicted seated from behind, as she turns her head to look at the face of a young man, partially obscured, gazing at her from the shadows, presumably one of Rembrandt's students (possibly Johannes Raven?), sketching the model across the room from the master. In her raised arm she holds an arrow, the origin of the print's title. This detail is probably based on the cord held by the model to relieve an otherwise tiring pose, which Rembrandt changed into an arrow. This small adaptation transforms what is ostensibly a life study into an image with historical or mythological resonance, and the scene has been variously identified as a depiction of Venus disarming Cupid, Candaules and Cyges or Anthony and Cleopatra. Michael Zell argues that this difficulty of interpretation was part of Rembrandt's intent, with the late nudes 'occupying an indeterminate space, resisting classification as either subjects from life or portrayals of traditional pictorial or historical subjects. Poised suggestively between image categories, the works exploit boundaries between image types, between past and present, artifice and reality, life and art.' (M. Zell, in: Rembrandt's Naked Truth, p. 89).
Whatever its meaning, the etching is above all an exquisite depiction of the subtle effects of light and shade on the model's body and the luminescence of her skin set against the shaded background, which has always made this print one of Rembrandt's most admired. The artist's son Titus is said to have boasted that 'all the world has been quite amazed by it' (The Rembrandt Documents, p. 541). When Titus said 'all the world', he must have referred a relatively close circle of friends and collectors. At this late point of his career, his father created very few etchings and printed them in limited numbers for a small connoisseurs' market. The Woman with the Arrow is known in relatively few examples: Hinterding and Rutgers record four impressions of the first state, 25 of the present second state, and 13 of the third state.
This impression was once in the collection of Felix Somary, whose very high standards as a collector of prints by Rembrandt and Dürer make this provenance almost a guarantee for exceptional quality and excellent condition.
As far as we can tell from the drawings and prints of Rembrandt and his pupils, there were two distinct periods during which Rembrandt organised or participated in live drawing classes: one with a young man, around 1646 (see lot 85), and one between 1658-1661, with a female model (see lots 87 & 88).
The practice of nude drawing classes emerged in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century, as small groups of like-minded artists and their pupils met in the privacy of artists' studios. This contrasted with the development in other European capitals and art academies, where mostly male nudes were drawn from life under strict rules of decorum and propriety. The shift towards working directly from the fully naked female model in the intimacy of the studio led to a degree of naturalism and informality entirely new in the history of art.
The Woman with the Arrow belongs to a small group of six etchings of a naked or partially dressed women, all presumably depicting the same person. The plate is dated 1661 at lower left, making it Rembrandt's penultimate print. It is closely related to a drawing attributed to Johannes Raven (circa 1633⁄34-1662), who drew the woman in a similar position, but from the front and with both arms raised, very likely on the same day that Rembrandt sketched her. It is unclear whether Rembrandt himself participated in these nude drawing classes with pen and paper only - and subsequently turned some of his sketches into etchings - or occasionally worked directly onto the copper plate and outlined the figure and overall composition on the spot. Two curious elements of the present print suggest the latter: the woman's figure is depicted seated from behind, as she turns her head to look at the face of a young man, partially obscured, gazing at her from the shadows, presumably one of Rembrandt's students (possibly Johannes Raven?), sketching the model across the room from the master. In her raised arm she holds an arrow, the origin of the print's title. This detail is probably based on the cord held by the model to relieve an otherwise tiring pose, which Rembrandt changed into an arrow. This small adaptation transforms what is ostensibly a life study into an image with historical or mythological resonance, and the scene has been variously identified as a depiction of Venus disarming Cupid, Candaules and Cyges or Anthony and Cleopatra. Michael Zell argues that this difficulty of interpretation was part of Rembrandt's intent, with the late nudes 'occupying an indeterminate space, resisting classification as either subjects from life or portrayals of traditional pictorial or historical subjects. Poised suggestively between image categories, the works exploit boundaries between image types, between past and present, artifice and reality, life and art.' (M. Zell, in: Rembrandt's Naked Truth, p. 89).
Whatever its meaning, the etching is above all an exquisite depiction of the subtle effects of light and shade on the model's body and the luminescence of her skin set against the shaded background, which has always made this print one of Rembrandt's most admired. The artist's son Titus is said to have boasted that 'all the world has been quite amazed by it' (The Rembrandt Documents, p. 541). When Titus said 'all the world', he must have referred a relatively close circle of friends and collectors. At this late point of his career, his father created very few etchings and printed them in limited numbers for a small connoisseurs' market. The Woman with the Arrow is known in relatively few examples: Hinterding and Rutgers record four impressions of the first state, 25 of the present second state, and 13 of the third state.
This impression was once in the collection of Felix Somary, whose very high standards as a collector of prints by Rembrandt and Dürer make this provenance almost a guarantee for exceptional quality and excellent condition.