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Lot Essay
This engaging self-portrait was executed at the height of Hanneman's career and shows the full impact of Anthony van Dyck's influence, in the striking pose and bravura handling. Hanneman enjoyed a thriving career as a portraitist both in London and The Hague. It was while in London, between circa 1626 and 1638, that he is believed to have spent time in the workshop of van Dyck, an experience that was to leave a lasting impression, as evidenced by the present portrait. Furthermore, Hanneman is credited with disseminating van Dyck's style back in Holland, where he enjoyed the patronage of many Royalist exiles from the late 1640s.
In 1656, Hanneman was one of the leading dissenters to split from the Painters' Guild and form the Confrerie Pictura, an independent artists' body, of which Hanneman was elected dean (1656-9 and 1663-6). The defiance of this stance is conveyed in the present portrait through the assertiveness of the pose and the spirited execution. The theatrical pose, with the artist's back turned to the viewer looking back over his left shoulder, is reminiscent of that adopted in van Dyck's Self-Portrait with Endymion Porter (1633; Madrid, Prado), which Hanneman may have had the opportunity to see in the artist's studio.
This painting is one of only three recorded autograph self-portraits. An earlier, less assured and slightly awkward Self-Portrait signed and dated '1647' is in the Koninklijke Academy, The Hague (Ter Kuile, op. cit., pp. 65-6, no. 9). The present painting is a replica of Hanneman's Self-Portrait in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, which is signed and dated '1656' (Ter Kuile, op. cit., p. 89, no. 39a.). Interestingly, the Rijksmuseum picture is inscribed 'Quaeris quis vultus auctique sit oris imago Quaere quie hanc talem duxerit invenies' (lower right), covering an older inscription beginning 'Effigies...'. The present portrait is likely to preserve the original inscription. A further, studio version of this portrait type is in the National Museum in Poznan. We are grateful to Dr. Rudi Ekkart, of the RKD, The Hague, for confirming the attribution, on the basis of photographs. Other scholars believe this to be a studio variant of the Rijksmuseum portrait.
This portrait was part of the celebrated Northwick Park collection, which was first begun by John Rushout, 2nd Lord Northwick (1769-1859). As Tancred Borenius wrote, the 2nd Lord Northwick was 'a collector of very high intelligence and discrimination...he was able to avail himself of an ample fortune to buy the finest specimens of the Fine arts which came into the market.' Although he added an extensive picture gallery to his home, Northwick Park, he soon was forced to buy a second vast house, Thirlestane House, in order to house his ever increasing collection. When he died intestate, the collection was offered for sale at auction and his nephew, the 3rd Lord Northwick, bought back a small but important portion of the collection. In 1912, Captain E.G. Spencer-Churchill inherited Northwick Park and the rump of the collection from his maternal grandmother, the widow of the 3rd Lord Northwick, and over the subsequent 50 years added a further 200 paintings, which he christened the 'Northwick Rescues'. In his will he stipulated that his collection should be sold in its entirety, which it was, in a long series of sales in these Rooms in 1965, which realised well over 2,000,000.
In 1656, Hanneman was one of the leading dissenters to split from the Painters' Guild and form the Confrerie Pictura, an independent artists' body, of which Hanneman was elected dean (1656-9 and 1663-6). The defiance of this stance is conveyed in the present portrait through the assertiveness of the pose and the spirited execution. The theatrical pose, with the artist's back turned to the viewer looking back over his left shoulder, is reminiscent of that adopted in van Dyck's Self-Portrait with Endymion Porter (1633; Madrid, Prado), which Hanneman may have had the opportunity to see in the artist's studio.
This painting is one of only three recorded autograph self-portraits. An earlier, less assured and slightly awkward Self-Portrait signed and dated '1647' is in the Koninklijke Academy, The Hague (Ter Kuile, op. cit., pp. 65-6, no. 9). The present painting is a replica of Hanneman's Self-Portrait in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, which is signed and dated '1656' (Ter Kuile, op. cit., p. 89, no. 39a.). Interestingly, the Rijksmuseum picture is inscribed 'Quaeris quis vultus auctique sit oris imago Quaere quie hanc talem duxerit invenies' (lower right), covering an older inscription beginning 'Effigies...'. The present portrait is likely to preserve the original inscription. A further, studio version of this portrait type is in the National Museum in Poznan. We are grateful to Dr. Rudi Ekkart, of the RKD, The Hague, for confirming the attribution, on the basis of photographs. Other scholars believe this to be a studio variant of the Rijksmuseum portrait.
This portrait was part of the celebrated Northwick Park collection, which was first begun by John Rushout, 2nd Lord Northwick (1769-1859). As Tancred Borenius wrote, the 2nd Lord Northwick was 'a collector of very high intelligence and discrimination...he was able to avail himself of an ample fortune to buy the finest specimens of the Fine arts which came into the market.' Although he added an extensive picture gallery to his home, Northwick Park, he soon was forced to buy a second vast house, Thirlestane House, in order to house his ever increasing collection. When he died intestate, the collection was offered for sale at auction and his nephew, the 3rd Lord Northwick, bought back a small but important portion of the collection. In 1912, Captain E.G. Spencer-Churchill inherited Northwick Park and the rump of the collection from his maternal grandmother, the widow of the 3rd Lord Northwick, and over the subsequent 50 years added a further 200 paintings, which he christened the 'Northwick Rescues'. In his will he stipulated that his collection should be sold in its entirety, which it was, in a long series of sales in these Rooms in 1965, which realised well over 2,000,000.