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B 25

Self-portrait with bushy hair: bust

  • French title:
    Rembrandt aux cheveux crepus
  • German title:
    Selbstbildnis, duster blickend
  • Dutch title:
    Zelfportret met kroeskop
  • New Hollstein:
    93
  • Rembrandt in Black & White:
    Not included

Etching. 1631.
Size: 59 x 55 mm, reduced to 49 x 43 mm in the 3rd state. Surface: initially 32, in the 3rd state 21 cm2.
Signed in monogram and dated, in the upper left corner: RHL 1631, the R in the signature typically Rembrandt (NU). Over a previous monogram, which may be authentic.

Copper Plate

The plate was not part of any of the early sales or collections and is probably not in existence.

Rarity of impressions

  • In auctions (2000-2025): not seen in auctions

  • In the New Hollstein (2013): extremely rare                                        Early: 10          ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

  • Nowell-Usticke (1967): RRRR+, of the greatest rarity, rejected by Hind          ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

Attributions and reviews

It is generally assumed that this very small etching may originally be by Rembrandt, but that is was subsequently heavily worked over by a pupil (Johannes van Vliet according to Münz, White-Boon and Hinterding) and should be rejected as an original Rembrandt. The compact curls and the dots on the coat are not his style.
The plate was made by a pupil according to Seidlitz, Singer, Coppier and Campbell Dodgson.
Hind considers the attribution to Rembrandt ‘doubtful’, but does not exclude that a lightly bitten version made by Rembrandt served as the basis for this plate.

States

Most authors list three states, Nowell-Usticke four.
In the 1st state (NH, R97-98/NU) some of Rembrandts original work is still visible. There is a gray spot as a result of foul biting under the left cheek. There is an oval shaped patch to the right of the mouth, the corners are square (NU).
In the 2nd state (NH, R99) the false biting (grey spot and the oval patch) is repaired, probably by Van Vliet.
In the 3rd state (NH, NU) the corners are rounded.
In the 4th state (NU) the plate is cut on all sides by 10 mm, cutting the signature off.

Prints and collections

Of the 1st state only two impressions are known, in the Teylers Museum (Haarlem) and in the British Museum.

Literature

H 60, BB Rej-3, G 11-12, M 49, Mz 299, RA 97-100, Cl 25, W 25, Bl 220, Du 25, CD 279
Rembrandt & Van Vliet 1996, p. 67-68; Baas 2015, p. 62-63;

Rembrandt in Black & White: Not included

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