Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M.,R.A.(1836-1912)
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M.,R.A.(1836-1912)

Portrait of a young man, half length, wearing a blue cravat, circa 1854 (recto); A sketch of a man in profile smoking a pipe (verso)

Details
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M.,R.A.(1836-1912)
Portrait of a young man, half length, wearing a blue cravat, circa 1854 (recto); A sketch of a man in profile smoking a pipe (verso)
signed 'L.Alma Tadema' (lower right)
oil on canvas
15¾ x 12½ in. (40 x 31.8 cm.)
Provenance
Given by the artist to Cornelius Wester, 1854,
and by descent in the Wester family; their sale, J Swarts, Leeuwarden, 18 March 1885, lot 14 (170 guilders to Verhaus, Brussels).
Literature
V.G. Swanson, The Biography and Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, London, 1990, p. 119, no. 16.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This is an early work by Alma-Tadema, painted when he was only eighteen. It is signed before he added a hyphen to his surname but not dated. Carel Vosmaer, Alma-Tadema's friend, dated the picture to 1852 but the catalogue to the Leeuwarden sale dates it to 1854. Dr Swanson concurs with that date, as the artist was then living in Antwerp. Dr Swanson suggests that the painting was given to Wester, who lived in Alma-Tadema's home town of Leeuwarden, to demonstate the artist's progress.

We are grateful to Dr. Vern Swanson of the Springville Museum, Utah, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

More from VICTORIAN PICTURES

View All
View All