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Lot Essay
In Rembrandt’s printed oeuvre dogs usually feature as a pictorial device to assist or enliven the narrative of a scene, as in the Presentation in the Temple (lot 23) or Christ returning from the Temple with his Parents (lot 25). In his other prints, they are employed as comical devices, as in The Pancake Woman of 1635 (B. 124; New Holl. 144) where a dog attempts to snatch food from a child; or as a trope of companionship in Seated Beggar with his Dog (lot 47) and Landscape with Sportsman and Dogs (lot 37). In Sleeping Puppy, this otherwise secondary character is uniquely presented as the central and sole subject of the print.
The intense observation evident in the depiction of the animal is amplified by the minute format of the image and the extreme reduction of the composition. The close and tightly cropped viewpoint presents the puppy in a space devoid of any reference to the surroundings or circumstances of its depiction. The Sleeping Puppy is a portrayal of a young dog per se.
The print is closely related to a drawing by Rembrandt known as the Sleeping Watchdog, dated 1637-40, which is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Here, the dog is depicted in reverse and with a similar, vigorously shaded background, but clearly situated within a wooden kennel propped up against a wall. The removal of this external context and the low height of the plate, with the upper edge almost touching the tightly curled body of the little dog, thrusts the viewer in a very intimate way into the animal's own space. The viewer is brought right up against the face of the sleeping dog, adding a sense of tension to the quietude, as if the viewer might break the ‘fourth wall’ and stir the animal from its slumber.
Although The Shell (Conus Marmoreus) (B. 159; New Holl. 247), created ten years later, has often been described as Rembrandt’s only etched still life, the Sleeping Puppy may also be considered as such. Clifford Ackley certainly thought it was worth the comparison: 'Rembrandt’s pictorial isolation of the dog and his evocative description of it is comparable to his careful depiction of a single exotic shell in the small etching of 1650' (Ackley, 2003, p.123). Yet, whilst The Shell is depicted approximately in its real dimensions, a feature generally associated with the genre, the sleeping dog is here shrunken to a fraction of its real size, making it perhaps more akin to a miniature portrait than a still life. Possibly inspired by Rembrandt's tiny print, Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) made an exquisite painting of a very similar dog, but this time with the ingredients required by the still-life genre, including a table, a jug, a basket and a bundle of kindling.
As Ackley observed regarding the execution of the print, 'the body of the dog is lightly and delicately etched with lines that are literally hair-fine' (ibid, p. 122). The nuanced handling of the etched lines creates a brighter area on the dog’s head, as if light from a candle or lantern was being shone onto the animal sleeping in dark room or corner, perhaps under a bed.
The silvery appearance of this print is akin to other very lightly bitten etchings, which are reminiscent of silverpoint drawings (see lot 57) and could, due to their delicate nature, be only printed in a small number of impressions.
The etched image was completed in the first state, after which Rembrandt gradually reduced the size of the plate by cutting off the blank areas, from originally 64 x 105 mm. to 39 x 81 mm. in the present third state.
In this final state, the plate has exactly the same dimensions as the Small Grey Landscape (B. 207; New Holl. 181) of the same year, with the left, respectively right edge being fractionally taller. Could it be that, once Rembrandt had stopped printing the Sleeping Puppy, he etched the minuscule landscape onto the other side of the plate?
The first two states are unobtainable: only two examples of the first (British Museum, London; and Paris, Rothschild Collection) and one of the second state (British Museum, London) are known. Within the last 35 years only five impressions, all of the third state, have been offered at auction.
The intense observation evident in the depiction of the animal is amplified by the minute format of the image and the extreme reduction of the composition. The close and tightly cropped viewpoint presents the puppy in a space devoid of any reference to the surroundings or circumstances of its depiction. The Sleeping Puppy is a portrayal of a young dog per se.
The print is closely related to a drawing by Rembrandt known as the Sleeping Watchdog, dated 1637-40, which is at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Here, the dog is depicted in reverse and with a similar, vigorously shaded background, but clearly situated within a wooden kennel propped up against a wall. The removal of this external context and the low height of the plate, with the upper edge almost touching the tightly curled body of the little dog, thrusts the viewer in a very intimate way into the animal's own space. The viewer is brought right up against the face of the sleeping dog, adding a sense of tension to the quietude, as if the viewer might break the ‘fourth wall’ and stir the animal from its slumber.
Although The Shell (Conus Marmoreus) (B. 159; New Holl. 247), created ten years later, has often been described as Rembrandt’s only etched still life, the Sleeping Puppy may also be considered as such. Clifford Ackley certainly thought it was worth the comparison: 'Rembrandt’s pictorial isolation of the dog and his evocative description of it is comparable to his careful depiction of a single exotic shell in the small etching of 1650' (Ackley, 2003, p.123). Yet, whilst The Shell is depicted approximately in its real dimensions, a feature generally associated with the genre, the sleeping dog is here shrunken to a fraction of its real size, making it perhaps more akin to a miniature portrait than a still life. Possibly inspired by Rembrandt's tiny print, Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) made an exquisite painting of a very similar dog, but this time with the ingredients required by the still-life genre, including a table, a jug, a basket and a bundle of kindling.
As Ackley observed regarding the execution of the print, 'the body of the dog is lightly and delicately etched with lines that are literally hair-fine' (ibid, p. 122). The nuanced handling of the etched lines creates a brighter area on the dog’s head, as if light from a candle or lantern was being shone onto the animal sleeping in dark room or corner, perhaps under a bed.
The silvery appearance of this print is akin to other very lightly bitten etchings, which are reminiscent of silverpoint drawings (see lot 57) and could, due to their delicate nature, be only printed in a small number of impressions.
The etched image was completed in the first state, after which Rembrandt gradually reduced the size of the plate by cutting off the blank areas, from originally 64 x 105 mm. to 39 x 81 mm. in the present third state.
In this final state, the plate has exactly the same dimensions as the Small Grey Landscape (B. 207; New Holl. 181) of the same year, with the left, respectively right edge being fractionally taller. Could it be that, once Rembrandt had stopped printing the Sleeping Puppy, he etched the minuscule landscape onto the other side of the plate?
The first two states are unobtainable: only two examples of the first (British Museum, London; and Paris, Rothschild Collection) and one of the second state (British Museum, London) are known. Within the last 35 years only five impressions, all of the third state, have been offered at auction.