6.000 €
Portrait of a man
Oil on canvas : 62,5 X 52,0 cm
Bears signature and date middle right G v Eeckhout / A° 1667”
(both worn)
Frame : 82,6 X 72,8 cm
(the frame is not in mint condition)
Absolute transparency: our cost price = 4.609 €
= acquisition price 3.375 € + shipment 183 € + restoration 926 € + expert 125
Our export price 5.759 €
In short
This beautiful and highly original man’s portrait bears a seemingly original, but fake signature and date. They must have been added during the 19th century. When I bought it, it was covered by an old, thick layer of varnish. Stylistically it was not obvious to attribute it to van den Eeckhout, but the signature “seemed” his.
But bitterly no: it is a 17th century attractive man’s head, sadly with no attribution. It could be Dutch, maybe French or even English. A mystery and a source of frustration for me. But it remains an authentic portrait by an innovative painter.
About Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Important versatile and productive Dutch painter, engraver and amateur poet.
Amsterdam 1621 – 1674 Amsterdam.
Primarily painter of biblical scenes, he occasionally painted portraits, landscapes and from the early 1650s genre scenes.
Pupil of Rembrandt, apparently since the age of fourteen, during the second half of the 1630s. After finishing his studies, he might have stayed for a while with his master, side by side with Ferdinand Bol.
Grandson of Pieter van den Eeckhout, who, being a Mennonite, fled from his native Brussels for religious reasons to Holland.
Son of the goldsmith Jan Pietersz. van den Eeckhout. Our painter lost his mother at a very early age. Two years later his father married the daughter of a well-to-do brewer, who was also a founder and director of the Delft chamber of the Dutch East Indies Company.
Gerbrand seems to have led a more retiring life, in contrast to other successful pupils of Rembrandt, such as Govaert Flinck and Ferdinand Bol. He had a thriving career, especially during the 1660s.
He stayed single all his life. From 1670 onwards the widow of his brother Jan and her five children lived with him in an expensive house on the Herengracht (number 525).
Why should you buy this painting?
Because this mysterious portrait, possibly a study, is highly original.
Comparative paintings
Click photos for more details
