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Sold to the Art Institute of Chicago
Jan Gillisz. van Vliet (1605-1685)
Portrait of Rembrandt wearing a soft hat and embroidered coat, half-length turned slightly to left; after Rembrandt's self-portrait, 1634
Engraving
Monogrammed & dated in plate 'RHL 1634'
With crowned lily watermark
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Questions regarding the rework by Van Vliet have kept scholars occupied and in disagreement since the 1950s. Ludwig Münz attributed in 1952 by far the most rework of Rembrandt's plates...
Questions regarding the rework by Van Vliet have kept scholars occupied and in disagreement since the 1950s. Ludwig Münz attributed in 1952 by far the most rework of Rembrandt's plates to Van Vliet and he often specified why he thought of Van Vliet in special cases. In his supposed work on Rembrandt plates Van Vliet was despised for his coarse and destructive contribution leading away from the master’s original superior vision. There are a number of interrelated issues to face concerning Van Vliet: his role as reproductive etcher of Rembrandt, his supposed role as the master's collaborator on Rembrandt’s own plates, and his production as an artist in his own right.
Provenance
Bassenge, Berlin, November 1996, lot 5519Kunsthandlung Helmut H. Rumbler, Frankfurt
Private collection, New York
Literature
Bartsch 7Münz 14: "It would seem that the later additions [from state V onwards] were done under the supervision and correction of Rembrandt, but by a pupil (probably Vliet)."
Hollstein XLI: the only rework possibly not by Rembrandt applies to the states IX up to inclusive XI. Attribution of dark cross-hatching in burin on state IX to Van Vliet is unconvincing.
New Hollstein 30 (Rembrandt copy a)