Paul
Rajon (aka Paul Adolphe
Rajon) (1843–1888)
“Portrait
of Gerard Dou” (aka “His own Portrait” [published
title]; “The Painter’s own Portrait”), 1876, after Gerard Dou’s (aka Gerrit
Dou; Gerard Dow) (1613–1675) possible self-portrait in the National Gallery,
London (inv.nr.NG192), published in 1876 by Seeley, Jackson & Halliday
(London) (fl.1867–1880) in Philip Gilbert Hamerton’s (ed.) “The Portfolio: An
Artist Periodical”, bound in-between pages 32–33.
Etching
on cream laid paper with generous margins and backed with a support sheet.
Size:
(sheet) 35 x 24.1 cm; (plate) 19 x 14.8 cm; (image borderline) 16.8 x 13,2 cm
Inscribed
on plate within the image borderline and following the inscription on the
original painting in background at right: “CDOV”. (G. DOU)
(Scratch)
inscribed on plate below the image borderline: (centre) “P. Rajon aq. ft."
The
National Gallery (London) offers the following insights about Gerard Dou’s
(possible) self-portrait, “Portrait of a Man”, 1635-40 (oil on oak, 18.9 x 14.7
cm):
“In
this tiny portrait, an affable young man turns towards us, settling his elbow
over the back of his chair. His pipe is paused and he meets our gaze with an
easy, relaxed look. Perhaps he has just taken a puff; the tobacco is glowing
and smoke twists upwards from the bowl. Other minute details – from the pattern
of the gold braid on the man’s hat to the reflections in his eyes – add to the
atmosphere, and it is through such meticulous painting that Gerrit Dou has
managed to capture the sense of a moment in time, rather than just a deadpan
likeness. But the realism belies the point of the painting. Until recently it
was thought to be a self portrait, but the similarities with known paintings of
Dou are too generic for us to be sure. It is more likely that this is a tronie –
an image of a stock character – which were highly popular in the Netherlands at
the time.”
The
British Museum offers the following description of this print:
“Portrait
of Gerard Dou; half-length turned to the left, facing the viewer; wearing a
beret and holding a pipe; within oval; after Gerrit Dou”
See
also the description of this print offered by the National Galleries of
Scotland:
Condition:
richly inked and well-printed (near faultless) lifetime impression showing no
sign of wear to the printing plate, with generous margins. Beyond minor imperfections
in the paper the sheet is in near pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears,
holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains or foxing) laid upon an archival
support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.
I
am selling this strong etching arguably featuring a self-portrait of one of Rembrandt’s
most famous students (Gerard Dou)—interestingly, an artist purported by R N
Wornum in “The Portfolio” (1876) to paint “under an umbrella to protect his
work from dust” (p. 33)—for a total cost of AU$185 (currently US$126.31/EUR114.13/GBP95.96
at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).
If
you are interested in purchasing this subtly executed etching—note the exquisite
transitions of tone in the rendering of the face that require magnification to
see the individual strokes—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com)
and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.
