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Lot Essay
This Self-Portrait by Anthony van Dyck, as charming as it is surprising, is based on an oil sketch by the artist, currently in a private Swiss collection. Only the present, unfinished first state (of seven) is made in pure etching by the artist himself. It was first published in the finished, third state as the frontispiece for his famous series of engraved portraits of the most famous personalities of his time, including European royalty, military men, writers and artists, known as the Iconography ('Icones Principum Virorum...'). Already the second state includes work by the engraver Jacob Neefs, who under instruction from van Dyck, completed the plate for publication. He transformed the very lively self-portrait into a marble head on a pedestal, and plate was then inscribed the title of the series and the publisher's address.
The first edition of the Iconography was published by Gillis Hendricx in Antwerp in 1645, four years after van Dyck's death. Influenced by earlier Italian and French portrait series, the artist began organizing a print publication containing the engraved likenesses of more than a hundred prominent men of his lifetime in 1630. Van Dyck himself only worked on 17 of the plates, delegating most of the work to professional engravers from his workshop, including Lucas Vorstermann and Paulus Pontius.
Many preparatory drawings and oil sketches for the plates have survived, but rarely come to the market. Recently, the preparatory drawing for the portrait of Willem Hondius, in black chalk, grey and brown wash, pen and brown ink, heightened with white, resurfaced and was sold for a record price at Christie's, New York (Old Master & British Drawings,1 February 2024, for $2,107,000).
Van Dyck's virtuosity as a draughtsman and portraitist is best appreciated in the very rare first, unfinished state. He was clearly only interested in the essentials of the portrait, his own face and head, which he captured with great spontaneity and fluidity. The shoulders are merely suggested, otherwise he left the plate blank. The present sheet, printed beautifully with a light plate tone and wiping marks, has a long history of being in prestigious collections, including those of Johann Andreas Boerner, Heinrich de la Motte-Fouquet, John Wingfield Malcolm, and the British Museum.
The first edition of the Iconography was published by Gillis Hendricx in Antwerp in 1645, four years after van Dyck's death. Influenced by earlier Italian and French portrait series, the artist began organizing a print publication containing the engraved likenesses of more than a hundred prominent men of his lifetime in 1630. Van Dyck himself only worked on 17 of the plates, delegating most of the work to professional engravers from his workshop, including Lucas Vorstermann and Paulus Pontius.
Many preparatory drawings and oil sketches for the plates have survived, but rarely come to the market. Recently, the preparatory drawing for the portrait of Willem Hondius, in black chalk, grey and brown wash, pen and brown ink, heightened with white, resurfaced and was sold for a record price at Christie's, New York (Old Master & British Drawings,1 February 2024, for $2,107,000).
Van Dyck's virtuosity as a draughtsman and portraitist is best appreciated in the very rare first, unfinished state. He was clearly only interested in the essentials of the portrait, his own face and head, which he captured with great spontaneity and fluidity. The shoulders are merely suggested, otherwise he left the plate blank. The present sheet, printed beautifully with a light plate tone and wiping marks, has a long history of being in prestigious collections, including those of Johann Andreas Boerner, Heinrich de la Motte-Fouquet, John Wingfield Malcolm, and the British Museum.