284 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), Cottages and Farm Buildings with a Man Sketching .

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), Cottages and Farm Buildings with a Man Sketching . Etching on laid paper. (c. 1641). 13 x 20.7 cm (sheet). Bartsch 219; White/Boon 219; Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 201 only state. Provenance: Arthur Friedrich Theodor Bohnenberger (1826–1893), Stuttgart, with his collector’s stamp verso (Lugt 68); (formerly on loan to the Fogg Museum, Harvard University). A fine impression of New Hollstein’s only state, with traces of burr beneath the outhouse at left and with the fine vertical polishing scratches clearly visible. With thread margins. Rembrandt’s landscape etchings are among the rarer prints in his oeuvre, as comparatively few impressions were taken from the plates. This is particularly true of the present work: the plate appears to have been lost at an early date, and no later impressions are known. A man wearing a tall hat is shown sketching a traditional Dutch farmhouse, a so-called 'stolpboerderij' or 'Haubarg', examples of which were once numerous in the countryside around Amsterdam. The figure has often been interpreted as Rembrandt himself. The artist frequently ventured into the surroundings of Amsterdam to draw from nature, and may here have depicted himself seated before the farmhouse, sketchbook in hand. Hinterding and Rutgers date the etching to circa 1641, a period which saw the creation of several of Rembrandt’s most important landscape prints, including 'The Cottage with a Haybarn', 'The Cottage with a Large Tree', 'The Windmill' and 'The Farmhouse beside a Canal, with a View of Ouderkerk on the Amstel'. – In good condition. Very rare. Taxation: regelbesteuert (VAT: Regular Taxation).