Jacob Adriaensz. Backer (Harlingen 1608-1651 Amsterdam)

A young boy in a plumed cap

Details

Jacob Adriaensz. Backer (Harlingen 1608-1651 Amsterdam)
A young boy in a plumed cap
signed 'Backer'
black chalk, traces of red chalk, brown ink framing lines, watermark Strasburg lily with letters WR
6½ x 7¼ in. (16.7 x 18.2 cm.)

Literature

W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, New York, 1979, I, no. 3.
Pieter van den Brink, 'Uitmuntend Schilder in het Groot: De schilder en tekenaar Jacob Adriaensz. Backer', in Jacob Backer: Rembrandts tegenpool, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rembrandthuis, and Aachen, Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, 2008-2009, p. 77, fig. 89.

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Lot Essay

Brink notes that this is a preparatory study for Backer's Family portrait with Christ and the Children, datable to circa 1634 (van den Brink, op. cit., p. 40, fig. 19). The free and spontaneous style of draughtsmanship supports this date: it can also be seen in drawings by Backer's master, Rembrandt, from the early 1630s.

Fig. 1. Jacob Adriaensz. Backer, Family portrait with Christ and the Children, Private collection.

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