Lot 124: Jacques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629 The Hague)

Jacques de Gheyn II (Antwerp 1565-1629 The Hague) Portrait of a seated man in an armchair black and red chalk on vellum 6 x 5¼ in. (15.3 x 13.3 cm.)

15.3 x 13.3 cm.

Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Dessins hollandais de Jérôme Bosch à Rembrandt, 1937-38, no. 33, pl. XXIII (catalogue by F. Schmidt-Degener). Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Drie eeuwen portret in Nederland, 1952, no. 203 (catalogue by A. Staring). Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Paris, Fondation Custodia, and Brussels, Bibliothèque Albert 1er, Le Cabinet d'un Amateur: Dessins flamands et hollandais des XVIe et XVIIe siècles d'une collection privée d'Amsterdam, 1976-77, no. 54, pl. 36 (catalogue by J. Giltaij). Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, and Washington DC, National Gallery of Art, Jacques De Gheyn II als tekenaar, 1565-1629, 1985-86, no. 35.

I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn: An Introduction to the Study of his Drawings, Amsterdam, 1935, p. 51, pl. 6. M.D. Henkel, 'Hollandsche teekeningen in Brussel', Maandblad voor Beeldende Kunsten, XV, 1938, p. 41. I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn: Three Generations, The Hague, 1983, I, p. 55, II, no. 710, III, pl. 43.

This is the only portrait by De Gheyn known on vellum. The sitter may be Vincent Jacobsz. Coster (1553-circa 1608), an Amsterdam colour-dealer and wine-merchant who was represented in a print by De Gheyn in 1591 at the age of 38 (Hollstein, VII, no. 318) and again at the age of 48 in a print by Jacob Matham in 1602, copied after a painting by Cornelis Ketel (New Hollstein 242). In the present drawing the sitter appears to be around 45 years of age, which suggests a date of circa 1600. In his Introduction (op. cit.), I.Q. van Regteren Altena compared the spirit of the composition to the Portrait of Abraham Gorlaeus (New Hollstein 245).