A view of a town along a river, a boat in the foreground

Details

Circle of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Leiden 1606-1669 Amsterdam)
A view of a town along a river, a boat in the foreground
pen and brown ink, brown wash on light brown washed paper
3 x 6 7/8 in. (7.7 x 17.5 cm)

Provenance

Mr and Mrs Edward Speelman, London, by 1948.

Literature

O. Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, London, 1954, VI, no. 1357, fig. 1592 (as Rembrandt).
O. Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, E. Benesch, ed., London, 1973, VI, no. 1357, fig. 1663 (as Rembrandt).

Exhibited

Basel, Rembrandt-Ausstellung zu Ehren Ihrer Majestät Königin Wilhelmine der Niederlande, anläßlich des Jubiläums ihrer fünfzigjährigen Regierungszeit, Katz Galerie, 1948, no. 28.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Drawings by Old Masters, 1953, no. 41 (as Rembrandt; catalogue by J. Byam Shaw and K.T. Parker) (with the exhibition label on the back of the frame).

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Brought to you by

Jonathan den Otter

jdenotter@christies.com +44 (0) 207 389 2736

Lot Essay

As noted by Otto Benesch, the rather calligraphic and schematic rendering of the landscape is close to that in a drawing by Rembrandt at the Albertina, Vienna (Benesch, op. cit., no. 1354, fig. 1668). Recently, Martin Royalton-Kisch observed that these drawings are rather closely related indeed, and that the present sheet can also be compared to a drawing in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (ibid., no. 1355, fig. 1669) which shows a similarly schematic approach to the architecture (written communication May 2019). He furthermore notes that the wash in the present sheet lacks the subtlety of that in those drawings, ruling out an attribution to Rembrandt.

We are grateful to Peter Schatborn and Martin Royalton-Kisch for their assistance in cataloguing this drawing.

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