Self-portrait in a fur cap: bust.

During his lifetime, Rembrandt's extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands, and it also explains why, 200-300 years later, they were affordable to collectors such as Bishop Ditlev Monrad, who presented this print to the Colonial Museum in 1869, and Sir John Ilott.

 

Rembrandt's etchings are remarkable for their high number of self-portraits (over 30 out of about 290). These are particularly collectible, perhaps due to the smaller number of states as well as the artist's compelling and powerful presence. Unlike his stately religious scenes, or regal, posed portraits of others, which exhibit his careful and calculating brilliance as an etcher, Rembrandt's self-portraits reveal him as an artist and a man. In them he assumes the role of the experimenting artist, approaching the most difficult of subjects - himself.

 

This self-portrait is an early example, when Rembrandt was in his early to mid twenties and had yet to move from his native Leiden to Amsterdam. The New Hollstein Rembrandt Vol. 1 catalogue observes that it was 'originally conceived without the fur cap, since the hair on top of the head can be clearly seen'. It is typical of Rembrandt that he did not conceal or otherwise correct this.

 

Anna Rigg, Summer Research Scholar in 2015-16, says the following of Te Papa's impression: 'Fourth, fifth or sixth state of six (all by Rembrandt). With horizontal lines on the vest under the coat (added in state IV). In states V and VI the plate edges were smoothened: the left edge in state V and the remaining edges in state VI (the bottom edge imperfectly). This impression has been trimmed extensively, making it impossible to distinguish between these states.'

 

References: New Hollstein Dutch 72, 4th, 5th or 6th of 6 states; Hollstein Dutch 24, possibly 4th of 4 states

 

See: https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artist/harmensz-van-rijn-rembrandt/rembrandt-in-cap-and-scarf/

https://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/rembrandt-2/collection/etchings/

 

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   September 2017