Young Girl in Profile
Jan Lievens
(Dutch, 1607–1674)
about 1631-32
Medium/TechniqueOil on panel
Dimensions45.1 x 38.1 cm (17 3/4 x 15 in.)
Credit LineGift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession number2019.2085
On View
On viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
The true subject of this study seems to be the sitter’s luxurious blond hair, which cascades over her shoulders. The painter achieved some of the texture in the hair by scratching into the wet oil paint with the hard end of his brush. Lievens worked alongside Rembrandt, and both produced many tronies in the later 1620s and early 1630s. (The same model appears in another painting by Lievens, now in Leipzig.)
ProvenanceBaron von Bussche-Hünefeldt, Osnabrück; June 20, 1810, anonymous sale, Schley, Amsterdam, probably lot 42 [see note 1]; 1823, probably sold by the Bussche-Hünefeldt family to Bernhard Hausmann (b. 1784 - d. 1873), Hanover [see note 2]; 1857, sold by Hausmann to Georg V (b. 1819 - d. 1878), King of Hanover and Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Cumberland and Teviotdale [see note 3]; by descent within the royal family of Hanover [see note 4]; March 31, 1925, Braunschweig-Lüneburg sale, Lepke, Berlin, lot 38. 1927, James Simon (b. 1851 - d. 1932), Berlin; October 25, 1927, Simon sale, Muller, Amsterdam, lot 27. About 1927, Guttmann collection (possibly Sidonie Bett Guttmann), Berlin; until 2006, by descent within the Bett family [see note 5]; December 6, 2006, anonymous (Bett descendants) sale, Bonhams, London, lot 85. 2007, sold by David Koetser (dealer), Zurich and Galerie Neuse, Bremen, to the Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA; 2019, gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)
NOTES:
[1] The 1910 sale describes lot 42 as a painting of “A young graceful girl” measuring 18 by 15 inches by Lievens. The Getty Provenance Index database (sale catalogue N-163) has identified the seller as “von dem Bussche Hunnefeld in Osnabrück,” and the buyer as the dealer Theodorus Spaan. It is likely that this is the present painting, in which case it may have been bought in at the 1910 sale or sold and later repurchased by the Bussche-Hünefeldt family.
[2] Hausmann lists the painting in the catalogue of his collection in 1831 and notes the painting is a portrait of a servant girl employed by the Bussche-Hünefeldt family. He also says the painting remained in the family collection until 1823. See Bernhard Hausmann, Verzeichniss der Hausmann'schen Gemählde-Sammlung in Hannover (Hanover, 1831), cat. no. 213.
[3] In 1857, Hausmann closed his gallery and sold the collection to Georg V. See Klaus Mlynek, "Von Privaten zum Öffentlichen - Erste Museumsgründungen in der Residenzstadt Hannover," in 100 Jahre Kestner-Museum Hannover, 1889-1989, ed. Ulrich Gehrig (Hanover: Das Museum, 1989), 170.
[4] In 1861, Georg V used the works of art he purchased from Hausmann – as well as other objects in the family's possession – as the basis for the Welfenmuseum, the contents of which were entailed, or owned by and inherited within the family. In 1901 these objects formed the basis for the Fideikommissgalerie ("entailed gallery") at the Provinzialmuseum, Hanover. There the painting was inventory no. 207. In 1924, the Provinzialmuseum underwent reorganization and parts of the Fideikommissgalerie were removed and some were later sold. See Ines Katenhusen, "150 Jahre Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover," in Das Niedersächsische Landesmuseum Hannover, ed. Heide Grape-Albers (Hanover, 2002), pp. 24, 29, 34-35.
[5] Provenance from 1927-2006 is according to the 2006 Bonhams, London, sale catalogue.
NOTES:
[1] The 1910 sale describes lot 42 as a painting of “A young graceful girl” measuring 18 by 15 inches by Lievens. The Getty Provenance Index database (sale catalogue N-163) has identified the seller as “von dem Bussche Hunnefeld in Osnabrück,” and the buyer as the dealer Theodorus Spaan. It is likely that this is the present painting, in which case it may have been bought in at the 1910 sale or sold and later repurchased by the Bussche-Hünefeldt family.
[2] Hausmann lists the painting in the catalogue of his collection in 1831 and notes the painting is a portrait of a servant girl employed by the Bussche-Hünefeldt family. He also says the painting remained in the family collection until 1823. See Bernhard Hausmann, Verzeichniss der Hausmann'schen Gemählde-Sammlung in Hannover (Hanover, 1831), cat. no. 213.
[3] In 1857, Hausmann closed his gallery and sold the collection to Georg V. See Klaus Mlynek, "Von Privaten zum Öffentlichen - Erste Museumsgründungen in der Residenzstadt Hannover," in 100 Jahre Kestner-Museum Hannover, 1889-1989, ed. Ulrich Gehrig (Hanover: Das Museum, 1989), 170.
[4] In 1861, Georg V used the works of art he purchased from Hausmann – as well as other objects in the family's possession – as the basis for the Welfenmuseum, the contents of which were entailed, or owned by and inherited within the family. In 1901 these objects formed the basis for the Fideikommissgalerie ("entailed gallery") at the Provinzialmuseum, Hanover. There the painting was inventory no. 207. In 1924, the Provinzialmuseum underwent reorganization and parts of the Fideikommissgalerie were removed and some were later sold. See Ines Katenhusen, "150 Jahre Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover," in Das Niedersächsische Landesmuseum Hannover, ed. Heide Grape-Albers (Hanover, 2002), pp. 24, 29, 34-35.
[5] Provenance from 1927-2006 is according to the 2006 Bonhams, London, sale catalogue.
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens
Jan Lievens