Jacques de Gheyn III (Haarlem 1596-1641 Utrecht)

Five studies of lion cubs

Details

Jacques de Gheyn III (Haarlem 1596-1641 Utrecht)
Five studies of lion cubs
pen and black ink, watermark posthorn within shield, black ink framing lines
5 7/8 x 10 ½ in. (15 x 26.7 cm.)

Provenance

Emile Calando (1840-1899) (his inventory: 'N°2941 - 5 études de lions - plume - Peter de Gheyn - 1834-10fr - Custodia 1971'); acquired by I.Q. van Regteren Altena from Calando's descendants, through the Fondation Custodia, in 1971.

Literature

I.Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn: Three Generations, The Hague, 1983, I, p. 136, II, 'de Gheyn III', no. 60, III, pl. 35.
C. van Hasselt, in Le héraut du dix-septième siècle: Dessins et gravures de Jacques de Gheyn II et III, exhib. cat., Paris, Fondation Custodia, 1985, p. 115, under no. 73.
K.G. Boon, The Netherlandish and German Drawings of the XVth and XVIth Centuries of the Frits Lugt Collection, Paris, 1992, pp. 183-4, under no. 97.

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Lot Essay

In studying lions, Jacques de Gheyn III was following the example of his father, who had made two studies of lions around 1600 (Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the latter formerly in the Vosmaer Collection; van Regteren Altena, op. cit., nos. 859 and 861). Executed with his characteristic short, swift strokes of the pen, the drawing represents the animals with an element of gentle humour which is absent in his father’s more precise, naturalistic studies. He made another study of the same lions, also formerly in the Calando collection, which is now in the Fondation Custodia, Paris (inv. 6865; van Regteren Altena, ‘de Gheyn III’, no. 59).

We are grateful to Denis Calando for his assistance in establishing the provenance of this drawing.

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