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REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669) A Scholar in his Study ('Faust')
作品估价：USD 120,000 - 180,000
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图录号：
19
拍品名称：
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669) A Scholar in his Study ('Faust')
拍品描述：
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)
A Scholar in his Study ('Faust')
etching with engraving and drypoint
circa 1652
on laid paper, indistinct countermark (possibly Hinterding FBA)
a superb, luminous and atmospheric impression of the first state (of seven)
printing with rich, velvety burr throughout and a subtle, selectively wiped plate tone
with intense contrasts and great depth
with small margins on three sides, a wider margin below
in very good condition
Plate: 8 ¼ x 6 ¼ in. (210 x 158 mm.)
Sheet: 8 7⁄8 x 6 ½ in. (223 x 161 mm.)Henri Vever (1854-1943), Paris (Lugt 2491bis, stamped twice, recto and verso); then by descent; their sale, Sotheby's, London, 30 June 1998, lot 118 ($ 170,000; to Light).
With Robert M. Light & Co., Inc., Santa Barbara, California.
Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection, Detroit; acquired from the above in 1998; then by descent to the present owners.Bartsch, Hollstein 270; Hind 260; New Hollstein 270Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Art Institute of Chicago, Rembrandt's Journey, 2003-04, n. 150.This is one of Rembrandt's most mysterious prints, and has been the subject of debate for over three hundred years. The subject is clearly a scholar, standing by his desk surrounded by books, papers and a terrestrial or celestial globe. On a shelf in the background is a skull, a
memento mori and since the first depictions of Saint Jerome in his study a symbol of learning, philosophy and science. What is less clear is the significance of the apparition by which he is transfixed. The earliest title given to the print is found in Clement de Jonghe’s inventory of 1679, where it is described simply as 'Practising Alchemist'. In 1731 the inventory of the Dutch collector Valerius Röver identified the print as Doctor Faustus, the name by which it is still commonly known today. Whilst this title was only coined later, it seems fairly safe to assume that Rembrandt based his print on the legendary magician and alchemist: it is known that Christopher Marlowe's
Tragical History of Doctor Faustus was performed in Amsterdam around 1650. One possible explanation is that the print is meant to demonstrate that scholars, and mankind in general, no matter how keenly they search after knowledge, can only perceive the truth as if in a glass darkly - in other words indirectly and distorted. Human knowledge is limited, and it is only through Jesus Christ, symbolized by the disc with the Latin acronym INRI, that we can partake of perfect knowledge hereafter.
In the late 1640-50s Rembrandt began to experiment by printing the same prints on a variety of supports, including oriental and oatmeal papers, thus exploring the effects of different surfaces and tones on the printing and the atmosphere of the image. About half of the first state-impressions of this plate recorded in New Hollstein are printed on Japanese, Chinese or oatmeal papers. For the present pull Rembrandt chose a bright European paper, which accounts for the sharpness, brilliance and intense contrasts of this impression.