Lot 1218 | Rembrandt van Rijn | Portrait of a Bearded Man with Beret and Gold Necklace

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN
1606 Leiden - 1669 Amsterdam

Workshop

Title: Portrait of a Bearded Man with Beret and Gold Necklace.
Date: Ca. 1645/50.
Technique: Oil on wood.
Mounting: Parquetted.
Measurement: 64.5 x 48.5cm.
Notation: Traces of an old signature lower right.
Frame: Framed.

Literature:
W. Sumowski: Gemälde der Rembrandtschüler, Landau, 1983, vol. VI, cat. no. 2506, p. 3752, coloures ill. p. 4129;
Detroit Institute of Arts. Bulletin, Vol. 9, 1927, p. 26, ill. on the cover (as Rembrandt workshop); Bulletin, Vol. 10, no. 1, p. 10 (as Rembrandt).

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany;
Private ownership, Europe, until 2019;
Private ownership, until 2009;
Joseph M. B. Guttmann Galleries, Los Angeles until 1983;
The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, 1927;
Frank J. Hecker Collection, Detroit, 1910.

This portrait of a man in three-quarter profile, with a beret and golden pendant, whose gaze is pensively lowered out of the picture space, is characterised by an expressive lighting dramaturgy.
While the contours of the sitter seem to almost disappear into the background within the monochrome colour palette, his face is brought into the focus of the viewer by the contrasting light falling from the left in delicate golden tones.
The impressive facial expressions of the sitter are thus lent convincing urgency. The painting's style and quality are particularly expressive of its direct proximity to Rembrandt and its creation in the workshop.
Like Sumowski, Schnackenburg and other art historian also places this painting in Rembrandt's immediate circle and dates it to around 1645.

In the late 1640s, Barent Fabritius spent time in Rembrandt's workshop; Willem Drost began his teaching career.
This work shows strong links to both in the style of the facial type and in the manner of execution, but more so to Drost. The latter in particular reveals influences from his first teacher Hoogstraten.

In the right margin there are also the remains of a signature that is difficult to decipher.

There is no doubt that this attractive and impressive portrait is a workshop work from the middle of the 17th century. It is an original composition - and not a version of a Rembrandt composition.