Provenance:

Tobias Christ, Basel, Switzerland.

His sale, Sotheby's, London, sale of April 9, 1981, Lot 26 (as Rembrandt van Rijn).

Private Collection.

Sotheby's, New York, sale of January 30, 2019, Lot 87.

Exhibited:

Basel, Switzerland, Kunstmuseum, Rembrandt, 1937, no. 183 (as Rembrandt van Rijn).

Literature (In all cases as Rembrandt van Rijn):

Kurt Bauch, Die Kunst des Jungen Rembrandt, Heidelberg 1933, p. 220.

Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, London 1954, vol. II, no. 378.

Maria Kaczanowska, "Reminiscencje Sztuki Rembrandta w Tworczosci Daniela Chodowieckiego," Biuletyn Historii Sztuki, Warsaw 1961, p. 358.

Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, London 1973, vol. II, no. 378.

Lot Note:

Otto Benesch, one of the foremost twentieth-century authorities on Rembrandt, considered the drawing to be by the artist’s hand and dated it to 1638. Although its exceptional quality is widely acknowledged, subsequent scholars have expressed reservations about Benesch’s attribution. Nevertheless, no convincing alternative attribution has yet been proposed.

Though modest in scale, this well-preserved study, executed with a characteristic variety of pen and wash, exemplifies Rembrandt’s fascination with hats, caps, and turbans. Above all, the drawing demonstrates a compelling commitment to capturing the figure’s distinctive character with immediacy, allowing the figure’s individual character to take precedence over all other aspects of the composition. 

Framed: 10 1/2 x 10 in. x 1 3/4 in.

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