Self-portrait at the age of thirty
Maker
(artist)
1667-1745
1667-1745
Title
Self-portrait at the age of thirty
Date of Production
(3 Mar) 1735
Medium
graphite on parchment
Dimensions
Height: 14.9 cm
Width: 11.6 cm
Width: 11.6 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.1660
Mode of Acquisition
Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Richardson was one of Rembrandt’s earliest English admirers, and avidly collected drawings and etchings by him. The 17th-century Dutch artist was without doubt a powerful influence both as a compulsive draughtsman and as an inveterate self-portraitist. In this remarkable drawing Richardson pays homage, emulating one of the master’s self-portrait etchings and depicting his younger self as Rembrandt.
Provenance
by descent to the artist's son, Jonathan Richardson, the younger (1694-1771), L.2170; presumably his sale, Langford and Son (London), 5 - 12 February 1772; John Barnard, London (1709-1784), L.1419; Sotheby's (London), 25 - 26 June 1923, lot 40 (with D.1952.RW.1662 and 1663); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (£2.1); Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
Rembrandt's Mark, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett, 14/06/2019-15/09/2019
Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery of the Master, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, 07/07/2018-14/10/2018
Jonathan Richardson by himself, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/06/2015-20/09/2015 ...More
Portrait of the Artist as ..., The Courtauld Gallery, London, 26/06/2012-22/07/2012
Rembrandt in eighteenth-century England, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1983
A collection of pictures, drawings, furniture and objets d'art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1924-25 ...Less
Rembrandt: Britain’s Discovery of the Master, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, 07/07/2018-14/10/2018
Jonathan Richardson by himself, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/06/2015-20/09/2015 ...More
Portrait of the Artist as ..., The Courtauld Gallery, London, 26/06/2012-22/07/2012
Rembrandt in eighteenth-century England, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1983
A collection of pictures, drawings, furniture and objets d'art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1924-25 ...Less
Literature
Rembrandt's Mark, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett, 2019
cat. no. 9
p. 96
Illus. on p. 96
Rembrandt: Britain's Discovery of the Master, Edinburgh National Galleries of Scotland 2018
p. 23; p. 141, cat. 123
fig. 16, p. 23
Gibson-Wood, Carol, 'Jonathan Richardson as a Draftsman' in 'Master Drawings', 1994 - 203-229; 32, no. 3
p. 209 and see note 29
p. 210, fig. 5
see attached PDF ...More
Rembrandt in eighteenth-century England, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1983
cat. no. 53
pl. 7
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 39
Collins Baker, C.H., 'Some Drawings by Jonathan Richardson in the Witt Collection' in 'The Connoisseur', December 1925
p. 202
no. VI ...Less
cat. no. 9
p. 96
Illus. on p. 96
Rembrandt: Britain's Discovery of the Master, Edinburgh National Galleries of Scotland 2018
p. 23; p. 141, cat. 123
fig. 16, p. 23
Gibson-Wood, Carol, 'Jonathan Richardson as a Draftsman' in 'Master Drawings', 1994 - 203-229; 32, no. 3
p. 209 and see note 29
p. 210, fig. 5
see attached PDF ...More
Rembrandt in eighteenth-century England, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1983
cat. no. 53
pl. 7
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 39
Collins Baker, C.H., 'Some Drawings by Jonathan Richardson in the Witt Collection' in 'The Connoisseur', December 1925
p. 202
no. VI ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: n/a.
Inscription: Verso: upper left corner and again at upper right corner, graphite: "h/*"; upper centre, graphite, Jonathan Richardson the younger's hand: "My Father"; lower centre, pen and brown ink, 18th/19th-century hand: "J R Senr"; lower right, graphite, dated: "3 Mar 1734/5"; lower right, graphite, circled, written above the "1697" date in the other inscription: "1666"; lower right, graphite, erased or faded and hard to read: "7/6 [?]"; lower right, graphite: "the Orig:done abt May 12 1697".
Collector's mark: Recto: lower right, stamped in black, almost completely worn away: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2170). Verso: upper right, written in brown ink: John Barnard (L.1419); lower right, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).
Inscription: Verso: upper left corner and again at upper right corner, graphite: "h/*"; upper centre, graphite, Jonathan Richardson the younger's hand: "My Father"; lower centre, pen and brown ink, 18th/19th-century hand: "J R Senr"; lower right, graphite, dated: "3 Mar 1734/5"; lower right, graphite, circled, written above the "1697" date in the other inscription: "1666"; lower right, graphite, erased or faded and hard to read: "7/6 [?]"; lower right, graphite: "the Orig:done abt May 12 1697".
Collector's mark: Recto: lower right, stamped in black, almost completely worn away: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2170). Verso: upper right, written in brown ink: John Barnard (L.1419); lower right, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).
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