Rembrandt - Self Portrait [1632]

This self-depiction of a confident and successful young artist recently established in Amsterdam is one of the last painted self-portraits by Rembrandt left in private hands, and may be the last that is likely to come to the open market. Bridging the gap between the character studies of the earlier self-portrait heads from his Leiden period, and the elaborate fancy-dress portraits of his subsequent Amsterdam self-portraits of the 1630s, it is a considered and sober self-depiction of the artist just beginning to enjoy the fruits of success as the leading portrait painter in Amsterdam, keen to be seen as the social equal of his affluent and formally dressed clients.

 

[Sotheby’s, London - Oil on oak panel, 21.8 x 16.3 cm]

Done