Laughing Young Man

circle of Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1629 - c. 1630

A young man wearing a painter’s cap, probably Rembrandt, laughs cheerfully at us. The painting is not a portrait, but rather a portrayal of an emotion. Rembrandt frequently used his own face to practice rendering expressions: smiling, angry, sad, or startled. This panel was long considered an early self-portrait by the artist. Now it is thought to be by a pupil in Rembrandt’s Leiden workshop.

  • Artwork typepainting
  • Object numberSK-A-3934
  • Dimensionsheight 41.2 cm x width 33.8 cm, depth 4 cm
  • Physical characteristicsoil on panel

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Bust of a Laughing Young Man
    • Laughing Young Man
  • Object type

  • Object number

    SK-A-3934

  • Description

    Borstbeeld van een lachende jonge man. Naar rechts, het hoofd bijna en face, op het hoofd een baret. Vroeger beschouwd als een zelfportret van Rembrandt.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    signature: ‘RHL’


Creation

  • Creation

    painter: circle of Rembrandt van Rijn

  • Dating

    c. 1629 - c. 1630

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    oil on panel

  • Dimensions

    • height 41.2 cm x width 33.8 cm
    • depth 4 cm

This work is about

  • Subject


Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt

  • Acquisition

    purchase 1958

  • Copyright

  • Provenance

    …; ? estate inventory of the notary Herman van der Ceel (? - 1662) Delft, 1652 'Een laggende tronie van Reynbrant';{Bredius V, 1918, p. 1760.} …; collection Graf Nikolaus Paul Esterházy (1839-97), Nordlichen Castle, near Lüdinghausen, 1883;{Von Bode 1883, pp. 380, 573, no. 113.} …; dealer F. Kleinberger, Paris, 1903;{The Hague 1903, pp. 54-55, no. 111.} …; collection Frederick Cornelius Stoop (1882 - 1933), Byfleet, Surrey, 1906;{Martin 1906, p. 25.} his widow, Mrs Frederick Cornelius Stoop, née Agnes Macfarlane Claris (1858-?), Byfleet Surrey, 1935;{Bredius 1935, p. 3, no. 5.} …; dealers Benjamin and Nathan Katz, Dieren, 1937, 1938;{Dealer cat. Katz 1937, p. 20, no. 67; Dealer cat. Katz 1938, p. 20, no. 78.} dealer The Schaeffer Galleries (Benjamin and Nathan Katz's American agent), New York, 1938-47;{GRI, Schaeffer Galleries records, 1925-1985, acc. no. 910148, box 6, inventory cards, paintings L-Z, no. 219.} dealer Nathan Katz, Basel, 1947;{GRI, Schaeffer Galleries records, 1925-1985, acc. no. 910148.}…; collection Elisabeth Hartogs-Hijman (1871-1958), Arnhem, possibly by 1948;{In this collection according to Verslagen LXXX, 1958, p. 9; coll. cat. 1960, p. 263, no. 2024 A14. Basel 1948, p. 16, no. 5 states that the painting was in a private collection in 1948.} …; from the dealer D. Katz, Dieren, fl. 250,000, to the museum, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt, 1958


Documentation

    • afb. I C 34 Dl. 1
    • The Rembrandt Database, Object information, circle ofomgeving vanRembrandt, Bust of a laughing man, c. 1630, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no. SK-A-3934, http://www.rembrandtdatabase.org/Rembrandt/painting/2948/bust-of-a-laughing-man, accessed 2016 February 01
    • p. 166, afb. C34 Dl. IV

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