JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675) - photo 1
JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675) - photo 2
JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675) - photo 3

JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675)

Lot 17
15.11.2023 14:30UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
€ 151 200
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationFrance, Paris
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1071543
Lot 17 | JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675)
Estimate value
€ 150 000 – 250 000
JACOB LEVECQ (DORDRECHT 1634-1675)

Portrait d'un jeune homme, à mi-corps

huile sur panneau

61,5 x 47,3 cm. (24 ¼ x 18 2⁄3 in.)





Provenance

Jacques Goudstikker (1897-1940), Amsterdam.

Friedrich Bernhard Eugen 'Fritz' Gutmann (1886-1944), Heemstede, avant 1940 ; d'où mis en dépôt chez Nathan et Benjamin Katz, Dieren-Bâle.

Acquis par Hans Posse (1879-1942), Dresde, pour le 'Sonderauftrag Linz' (no. 1369) le 8 novembre 1940 (comme 'Carel Fabritius').

Récupéré par l’unité Monuments Fine Arts and Archives Section et transféré au Munich Central Collecting Point le 4 juillet 1945 (no. 2466 - comme 'Carel Fabritius').

Transféré à la Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit le 15 avril 1946 (no. 710) et restitué à Lili Gutmann (1919-2020) en février 1954.

Lili Gutmann, Heemstede-Florence, entre 1954 et 1959.

Alfred Brod Ltd., Londres, en janvier 1959 ; d'où acquis par le père de Saul Cohen en mai 1959 ; puis par descendance à Dr. Saul Cohen et à son épouse, Marcia.

Vente anonyme, Christie's, New York, 30 janvier 2013, lot 28A ; d'où acquis par l'actuel propriétaire.



Literature

Anonyme, Pictures on Exhibit, février 1959, XXII, 5, p. 47.

H. Shipp, 'Old Masters at Alfred Brod's', Apollo, février 1959, LXIX, 408, p. 32.

R. Spira, 'Ausstellung der Alfred-Brod-Galerie in London', Die Weltkunst, 1er février 1959, 29e année, 3, p. 10.

G. S. S. 'Great Changes in Taste and Values. Problems for Galleries', The Scotsman, 5 janvier 1959, 36,070, p. 16.

D. Farr, 'Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions', The Burlington Magazine, février 1959, CI, 671, p. 77.

Art News and Review, 17 janvier 1959 (selon le catalogue d'exposition de 2013, op. cit. supra).

W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Landau in der Pfalz, 1983, III, p. 1746, n°1164, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 1750, fig. 1164.

B. Schwarz, Hitlers Museum. Die Fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz: Dokumente zum "Führermuseum", Vienne-Cologne-Weimar, 2004, p. 103, n°II/41, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 217, n°II/41.



Exhibited

Londres, Alfred Brod, Exhibition of Paintings by Old Dutch and Flemish Masters. Recent Acquisitions, 3-24 janvier 1959, n°28.



Further Details

JACOBUS LEVECQ, PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN, HALF-LENGTH, OIL ON PANEL

This elegant portrait is the work of Jacob Levecq (1634-1675), portraitist of the Dutch Golden Age. A native of Dordrecht, he would have been in contact with the city's painters thanks to the commercial relationships developed by his father, Jaques Jaquesz Levesque (d.1660) in local artistic circles. The desire to become a painter led Jacob to move to Amsterdam, in order that he might enter Rembrandt’s studio. Levecq adopted his master’s style so successfully that many of his early works were subsequently attributed to Rembrandt. A notarised documented dated 1653, countersigned by Levecq, in which Rembrandt recognises the authenticity of a work by Paul Bril (1553/1554-1626), helps establish a definitive date at which the the young artist was working in the studio. Two years later, in 1655, he returned to Dordrecht where he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke. From this point onwards his style evolved, moving from the expressive handling learnt from Rembrandt to the more minutely elaborate aristocratic portraits of Jan de Baen (1633-1702) and Govaert Flinck (1615-1660).

Dated to circa 1654 by Werner Sumowski (W. Sumowski, 1983, op. cit. supra), when Levecq was still part of Rembrandt’s studio, this painting has all the expressivity of handling and generous application of paint of his master. The sitter’s penetrating gaze, which displays deep psychological consideration, also recalls Rembrandt’s interest in the individual and his lively observation of the world surrounding him. This portrait also looks forward to Levecq’s later stylistic developments. The sitter adopts a slightly hieratic, carefully conceived pose, which can be compared to Flinck’s Portrait of a Gentleman of 1640 in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (inv. no. 143 (1930.22)).

The present painting can be compared with two other portraits by the artist, also dating to 1654; the Portrait of a gentleman hanging at Polesden Lacey, Surrey (inv. no. NT 1246466, fig. 1) and the Portrait of an elderly lady in the musée royal des beaux-arts de Belgique in Brussels (inv. no. 2991) (see W. Sumowski, 1983, op. cit., pp. 1746, 1749 and 1751, n°1163 and 1165). The first of these is especially close in composition, the young man gestures in the same way, with his right hand raised towards the tassels on his white collar, and he has the same intensity in his gaze, directly addressing viewer. The short essay that accompanies the National Trust painting in their online catalogue suggests that the position of the sitter’s right hand pointing back at himself, a gesture symbolic of modesty and sincerity in Dutch painting of this date, could also indicate that this is a self-portrait. Given the similarities between the features of the two portraits, it is tempting to think that the same might be true of the present painting. It should be noted that the left hand of the sitter in our portrait was revealed during cleaning after the sale in 2013, restoring it to the original state as seen in Sumowski (W. Sumowski, 1983, op. cit. supra).
Artist:Jacob Levecq (1634 - 1675)
Applied technique:Oil on panel
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Portrait
Place of origin:Western Europe, Europe, The Netherlands
Auction house category:Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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