.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
When this portrait of Thomas Haaringh was offered in an auction in London in 1825, it was described as ‘rare, a fine early impression on parchment, producing the effect of a Picture’. What the cataloguer at the time so succinctly expressed is that the image, as a result of being printed on vellum (or parchment), looks more like a painting than a print.
In his later years as a printmaker, from around 1655 onwards, Rembrandt increasingly experimented with printing on different papers and supports. On occasion he printed a few important subjects, including the first state of ‘The Three Crosses’ (see lot 48), on vellum. Made from goat, sheep or calf skin, this was an antiquated material that had been used extensively in the production of manuscripts up to the end of the 15th century, but rendered more or less obsolete with the rapidly increased manufacture and distribution of paper in the 16th century. In Rembrandt’s time, vellum was mainly used for important administrative or legal documents. As a support for printing, vellum was an unusual choice, since the smooth and glassy surface of the polished skin is far less absorbent than paper. As a result, the ink sits differently on the surface, lending the image an almost liquid, wash-like appearance. Rembrandt used vellum mostly for prints executed with drypoint, which would print with rich burr - the fine metal barbs caused by the drypoint needle scratching directly into the copper plate, which catch ink and leave blurred, velvety marks on the print. As a consequence of printing a densely worked drypoint plate onto vellum, as is the case here, the image is almost non-linear. In the present impression, this magnificent portrait is largely made up of tonal areas in finest shades of grey and black, with a few brighter highlights, such as the sitter’s right hand, collar, the left side of his face and his wispy white hair. The overall effect is indeed that of an exquisite little grisaille painting.
To compare this impression on vellum with the previous one, an equally early, rather cleanly wiped example printed on European laid paper, is a fascinating study of differences. What distinguished Sam Josefowitz from other collectors - apart from the sheer quality and depth of his holdings - is the interest he took in acquiring several iterations of the same subjects and plates. He loved seeing different states, supports, manners of inking and wiping, counterproofs and maculatures side by side. The present two impressions afford us the same pleasure. Nick Stogdon, in his catalogue of the collection, remarked that Thomas Haaringh is 'the first of four portrait prints in the collection represented in more than one impression; they show the tremendous amount to be gained by a comparison of impressions on different supports as well as in different states. No contrast is more marked than that between these two proofs of 'Old' Haaringh...' (Stogdon, p. 201)
Of the third state, a few impressions on Japan paper are known, but only three on vellum, including the present example. The other two are at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Collection Dutuit, Paris. Eugène Dutuit (1807-1886) himself, as one of the earlier cataloguers of this print noted, considered this print ‘le chef-d’oeuvre des portraits gravés par le maître’, and it is – alongside the even more elusive portrait of Arnout Tholinx (see lot 9) - undeniably one of his greatest portraits in the print medium. In the present impression on vellum, in which the image seems to hover on the surface, it has an extraordinary, ghost-like vivacity and presence. Only a small print, it has the haunting quality found in some of the finest painted portraits by the artist.
In his later years as a printmaker, from around 1655 onwards, Rembrandt increasingly experimented with printing on different papers and supports. On occasion he printed a few important subjects, including the first state of ‘The Three Crosses’ (see lot 48), on vellum. Made from goat, sheep or calf skin, this was an antiquated material that had been used extensively in the production of manuscripts up to the end of the 15th century, but rendered more or less obsolete with the rapidly increased manufacture and distribution of paper in the 16th century. In Rembrandt’s time, vellum was mainly used for important administrative or legal documents. As a support for printing, vellum was an unusual choice, since the smooth and glassy surface of the polished skin is far less absorbent than paper. As a result, the ink sits differently on the surface, lending the image an almost liquid, wash-like appearance. Rembrandt used vellum mostly for prints executed with drypoint, which would print with rich burr - the fine metal barbs caused by the drypoint needle scratching directly into the copper plate, which catch ink and leave blurred, velvety marks on the print. As a consequence of printing a densely worked drypoint plate onto vellum, as is the case here, the image is almost non-linear. In the present impression, this magnificent portrait is largely made up of tonal areas in finest shades of grey and black, with a few brighter highlights, such as the sitter’s right hand, collar, the left side of his face and his wispy white hair. The overall effect is indeed that of an exquisite little grisaille painting.
To compare this impression on vellum with the previous one, an equally early, rather cleanly wiped example printed on European laid paper, is a fascinating study of differences. What distinguished Sam Josefowitz from other collectors - apart from the sheer quality and depth of his holdings - is the interest he took in acquiring several iterations of the same subjects and plates. He loved seeing different states, supports, manners of inking and wiping, counterproofs and maculatures side by side. The present two impressions afford us the same pleasure. Nick Stogdon, in his catalogue of the collection, remarked that Thomas Haaringh is 'the first of four portrait prints in the collection represented in more than one impression; they show the tremendous amount to be gained by a comparison of impressions on different supports as well as in different states. No contrast is more marked than that between these two proofs of 'Old' Haaringh...' (Stogdon, p. 201)
Of the third state, a few impressions on Japan paper are known, but only three on vellum, including the present example. The other two are at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Collection Dutuit, Paris. Eugène Dutuit (1807-1886) himself, as one of the earlier cataloguers of this print noted, considered this print ‘le chef-d’oeuvre des portraits gravés par le maître’, and it is – alongside the even more elusive portrait of Arnout Tholinx (see lot 9) - undeniably one of his greatest portraits in the print medium. In the present impression on vellum, in which the image seems to hover on the surface, it has an extraordinary, ghost-like vivacity and presence. Only a small print, it has the haunting quality found in some of the finest painted portraits by the artist.