Artdaily reports on a Rembrandt portrait that is coming up for auction at Christies in December. The painting, Portrait of a Man, Half-Length with Arms Akimbo, dates from about 1658. More intriguingly, this painting has not been seen in public for nearly 40 years. The sitter, who seems assured and comfortable in his pose, has not been identified. The portrait found its way to Columbia University, where it survived a student sit-in in 1968 before being sold in 1974 to raise money for the university. It was last seen in public in the exhibition, Rembrandt After 300 Years, held in Detroit in 1970.
I’ve only seen a photo of the work- unfortunately accompanied by a Christie’s employee- but my first thought is that there’s something of the self-portrait formula about it. The man wears a beret- a typical Rembrandt accoutrement- and the white shirt visible between the areas of the over garment recalls such treatments as the canonical self-portrait in London. The sprightly rendered white impasto really is a fine passage of painting; that’s worth the price of admission alone. And that impassive but steady gaze recalls the self-portraits too. I can’t find anything about it in my Rembrandt catalogues and books, but I’m hoping that I can find out more eventually.
This elusive Rembrandt is expected to sell for 18-25 million pounds- but I hope it doesn’t disappear into the bowels of a private collection.
I shall keep tabs on this auction as it will also feature a good Domenichino, of which more another time.
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