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 this state. Provenance: Arthur Friedrich Theodor Bohnenberger (1826–1893), Stuttgart, with his collector’s stamp on the reverse (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 on the 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 made 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 countryside around Amsterdam to draw from nature, and may here have depicted himself seated in front of the farmhouse, sketchbook in hand. Hinterding and Rutgers date the etching to circa 1641, a period that 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: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).