REMBRANDT VAN RIJN Nude Man Seated and Another Standing with a Woman and a Baby.
Etching, circa 1646. 195x130 mm; 7 5/8x5 1/8 inches, thread margins. Biörklund's first state (of 4); Usticke's first state (of 7); White and Boon's first state (of 3); New Hollstein's first state (of 8). Strasburg Lily watermark (Ash/Fletcher 36, they cite similar watermarks on early impressions of this subject in the Art Institute of Chicago and the Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Hinterding notes a similar watermark for first state impressions of this subject and dates the paper to circa 1646-48). A superb, dark, early impression of this scarce, early state, with strong contrasts, inky plate edges and no sign of wear, consistent with the earliest impressions of this subject.
Provenance: Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, with the ink stamp and duplicate impression ink stamp verso (Lugt 1233 and 1235); unidentified collector, with a cardinal's hat and palm frond ink stamp verso (Lugt 2763, he notes the mark might be related to the collector Franz Pokorny, Vienna, Lugt 788, as it appears next to Pokorny's ink stamp on many Rembrandt etchings in public collections). Bartsch 194; Biörklund 46-1; Hollstein (White and Boon) 194; New Hollstein 233.
