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Lot Essay
The present print is the largest and most elaborate of a series of six plates depicting naked or half-naked women, all created between 1658 and 1661. They are presumably the result of a series of life drawing sessions arranged by or at least attended by Rembrandt. There is evidence that Rembrandt's former pupils Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck, and probably others, such as the younger Johannes Ravens, met for such drawing classes in 1658 (see V. Manuth, in: Rembrandt's Women, p. 49-50). The similarity between the facial features of the women, their figures, poses, headgear and even the surroundings in Rembrandt's prints and drawings and the drawings of his circle strongly suggest that he was indeed present at these gatherings - and that the model was always the same woman. A drawing by Rembrandt himself (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) shows the woman seated in front of the stove, in another drawing by Aert van Gelder (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam) she is shown from the back, with the stove behind her.
The practice of nude drawing classes emerged in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century, as small groups of like-minded artists and their pupils met in the privacy of their workshops. This contrasted with the development in other European capitals and art academies, where mostly male nudes were drawn from life under strict rules of decorum and propriety. The shift towards working directly from the naked female model in the intimacy of the studio led to a degree of naturalism and informality entirely new in the history of Western art.
The group of Rembrandt's late female nudes was one of the treasures of the Josefowitz Collection and the present The Woman sitting half dressed beside a Stove, offered here in a sixth state, with the cap removed, is a great rarity on the market. Half domestic genre scene, half study of a female nude, it is one of the most atmospheric of Rembrandt's prints. Intimate and meditative rather than openly erotic, in its stillness and meticulous treatment of light and shade it brings to mind the interiors of Jan Vermeer or Pieter de Hooch.
The practice of nude drawing classes emerged in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century, as small groups of like-minded artists and their pupils met in the privacy of their workshops. This contrasted with the development in other European capitals and art academies, where mostly male nudes were drawn from life under strict rules of decorum and propriety. The shift towards working directly from the naked female model in the intimacy of the studio led to a degree of naturalism and informality entirely new in the history of Western art.
The group of Rembrandt's late female nudes was one of the treasures of the Josefowitz Collection and the present The Woman sitting half dressed beside a Stove, offered here in a sixth state, with the cap removed, is a great rarity on the market. Half domestic genre scene, half study of a female nude, it is one of the most atmospheric of Rembrandt's prints. Intimate and meditative rather than openly erotic, in its stillness and meticulous treatment of light and shade it brings to mind the interiors of Jan Vermeer or Pieter de Hooch.