The NGV has recently added two significant works to its renowned collection of 130 Rembrandt etchings: a late portrait, Abraham Francen, apothecary, c. 1657, and an early etching, Studies of the head of Saskia and others, 1636.
The NGV’s Rembrandt collection goes back to 1891, when eleven prints were acquired from Sir Francis Seymour Haden, a British surgeon, etcher and connoisseur of Rembrandt’s printed works who had assembled one of the most famous collections of the nineteenth century. Since then, the NGV has been able to acquire etchings from other major Rembrandt collectors including Viscount Downe, Joseph Ritman and James Fairfax AO.
Quality and provenance are paramount in the selection of works for acquisition. With an artist as prolific and complex as Rembrandt, considerable research is required to identify and assess his prints. Rembrandt made multiple changes to his plates, taking them through a number of ‘states’ and varying the wiping of ink to create a range of effects. Although comprehensive catalogues that describe each state help collectors and curators to identify a print, it can still be very difficult to distinguish between subtle variations. In addition to this complexity, many posthumous printings from original (often over-worked) plates were made over the centuries. These make up the vast majority of etchings on the market, and exceptional impressions are very rare.
The occasion of the Gallery’s 2023 exhibition Rembrandt: True to Life presented an opportunity to acquire a work of historical importance. A very rare impression of Abraham Francen, apothecary became available and was brought to the NGV from New York to be included in the exhibition as a loan. The Gallery ran a fundraising campaign and was successful in acquiring the print with the generous support of NGV patrons and donors.
In this portrait, Rembrandt depicts his friend Abraham Francen as a passionate collector surrounded by his treasured objects, including an exotic carpet draped over a table, a Chinese sculpture and skull, and paintings on the wall. Rembrandt and Francen shared a passion for artefacts from South-East Asia, and both were avid print collectors. Francen is seen here in the act of inspecting a print, illuminated by light filtering through the window. In the great majority of impressions of this etching, the sheet of paper in his hands is black, but in this fine early impression, the paper is translucent and we can see that the image is a portrait of a man. Looking closely at Rembrandt’s print, we find ourselves engaged in the same activity that Francen is absorbed in.
Etched portraits were usually commissioned to be given to the family, friends and business associates of the person portrayed. However, this etching was likely made as an act of friendship. Rembrandt was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1656, and Francen had acted on Rembrandt’s behalf in financial and personal matters throughout an extremely difficult period in the artist’s life. Francen must have been a close friend to the whole family, because he became the guardian of Rembrandt’s only surviving child, Cornelia, after the artist’s death in 1669.
This print is worked in Rembrandt’s innovative late manner, in which rich drypoint, veils of ink and selective wiping of the plate create atmospheric tonal effects. It is printed on Japanese paper, a type of support favoured by Rembrandt because of its warm tone.
In contrast to this detailed, finely worked image, the early print Studies of the head of Saskia and others is an exercise in spontaneity. The etching depicts Rembrandt’s young wife, Saskia, in the centre of the image, surrounded by sketches of five other heads in various stages of completion. The variety of headdresses, and the different angles from which the heads are depicted, suggest that these were studies for figures in genre pictures or biblical narratives. Rembrandt made several etchings that imitate ‘study sheets’ throughout his forty-year career. He did not sell his drawings, but produced prints that looked like sketches, knowing that these would appeal to collectors who admired Rembrandt’s ability to capture the essential features of a face in a few lines.
This crisp early impression was recently acquired from the famous collection of Sam Josefowitz and generously gifted to the NGV by Andrew Sisson. Adding such a fine early print and the outstanding late portrait of Abraham Francen to our Rembrandt holdings attests to the NGV’s commitment to building its renowned Old Master collection.
Dr Petra Kayser is Curator, Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Victoria.