Gerard Dou

Possibly Vincent Donjeux;
Possibly his sale, Paris, Lebrun, Paillet, 29 April 1793, lot 187, for 601 francs to Solier;
Possibly Daniel Mansveld;
Possibly his sale, Amsterdam, Jacobus Vinkeles, 13 August 1806, lot 320, for 265 guilders;
Possibly Miss F.A. Bodley, Bournemouth;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 14 May 1930, lot 25, for
£ 105 to Asscher;
With D. Vaarties, Rotterdam;
Where bought by the grandfather of the present owners.

Possibly C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke..., Esslingen/Paris 1907, p. 436, no. 320.

"The following condition report has been provided by L.L.C. van Wassenaer, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. All observations for this report were made with the naked eye. VARNISH The varnish layer appears to be of a natural resin. The varnish has hardly yellowed. It has been applied thinly which is nice as you can still see the brush strokes. It could be slightly more saturated in the darker parts. There are several minor scratches in the varnish layer; upper edge and other edges too, mostly occurred by the frame scratching the varnish while framed. There are some areas where the old varnish has not been removed thoroughly when treated last. This is only noticeable by UV light in the lower right corner. There hardly seems to be any superficial dirt. PAINT LAYER The oil paint has been applied with a brush. Overall, the paint has been applied thinly with nice highlights with thicker impasto’s in the hair, beard, and in his skin, but also in the cloth of his mantle. The paint layer is stable. One can notice that the panel has quite a rough grain structure. There where the paint was applied thinly, the paint has run into the lower “hollows” of the grain and left a very thin layer on the higher parts. This thin layer has become more transparent with time and locally is slightly abraded, thus the grain of the wood has become disturbing at places. These very thin disturbing lines have been retouched in the past; these are the retouches we can see under UV light and with raking spotlight. However, these retouches have been done nicely and are still very acceptable. There are also three small retouches locally enhancing the shadow behind the hand. In the left lower part just under his right shoulder there is a slightly larger, nearly round shaped retouch of approx. 5x6 mm. The area in the background, above and next to the signature has been retouched and the signature has minor strengthening. Do notice that the thin halftones such as in the shade of his cheek and beard and around the eyes are unharmed. Often, the paint in these thin darker areas has been over cleaned, but this is not the case here. There are very fine craquelures visible in the paint layer. UNDER DRAWING Not visible in this state with the observation of the naked eye. ACTUAL CONDITION OF THE CARRIER The paint has been applied on to an oak wood panel. The panel has been hand bevelled. The panel has its grain going in vertical direction. The panel is stable. Some tiny pieces have broken of the edges of the panel, like on the upper left corner and in the middle of the left edge NOTE: This painting looks very representable. There could be gained some, with just a slight superficial clean and a thin varnish, just to saturate the actual varnish layer. This will give the image more depth as the clair-obscur will be enhanced."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This recently discovered and hitherto unrecorded little panel perfectly illustrates not only Dou's sympathy for one of his favourite subjects, but also the meticulous technique that made his works of this type so famous in his own day and beyond.

The old man shown as a tronie here must have been a favourite model of the artist, since he appears in a number of his works. He is often portrayed as a solitary hermit or religious figure at prayer, a theme Dou explored throughout his career, from the mid-1630s right up to 1670. The figures, shown both full-length and half-length, are sometimes portrayed before crucifixes or holding rosaries and bibles, and sometimes kneeling in a landscape or a grotto, such as that sold New York, Christie's, 9 June 2010, lot 39. Others, such as the present panel, are more simply and sparely depicted. As with much of his early subject matter, Dou borrowed the subject from Rembrandt van Rijn, with whom he had begun his apprenticeship on 14 February 1628.¹  This and other works in this vein may, for example, have been influenced by Rembrandt's print of Saint Jerome, of around 1635², which shows a similar figural type.

Dou's interest in these subjects seems to have been rekindled after circa 1660 and the present work probably also dates from late in his career. Both the style and execution of the head of the old man closely relate to the Hermit at Prayer in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. C128)³, signed and dated 1664, and to another Praying Hermit in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis (inv. no. 87.11)⁴, signed and dated 1670. Another Head of a bearded old man that is very closely comparable to this painting was sold New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2006, lot 15, for $1.248.000 (oil on panel, 17.8 by 12.7 cm.). In both this and the present work, Dou has stripped the old man from all his accoutrements and iconographic references. He has placed the figure bust-length in the foreground of the picture plane against a plain background, with just a beam of light illuminating his face, thus emphasizing the old man's humble and reverential attitude. All these hermits must have been painted around the same time in light of their very similar handling. Compared to works in his earlier exquisitely detailed fijnschilder technique, they can be characterized by a somewhat more painterly handling of the brush. Nonetheless, Dou has here skilfully captured the different materials and textures. In particular, the cloak is painted thinly with looser, broader strokes, while the wrinkled texture of the forehead, the furrowed brows and the subtle strokes of the beard are more meticulously rendered.

Although the early history of this little panel is unknown, it is tempting to associate it with some references to similar works in old sale records (see under Provenance). In particular those sold Paris, 29 April 1973, lot 187, which was described as "un vieillard portant barbe er quelques masse de cheveux, dont une partie du crâne est dépourvue; il est vu en buste; tenant de la main gauche son manteau, dont il s'enveloppe: ce fin et précieux tableau est du très-beau faire de ce maître, dont on connoit la rareté des ouvrages. Hauteur 5 p. larg. 4 p"; and sold Amsterdam, 13 August 1806, lot 39, which is included in Hofstede de Groot under no. 320 and was descibed as "hoog 6, breed 5 duim, op Paneel.'t Afbeeldsel van een bejaard Man, met een witte baard en halfkaal hood met witte hairen, gekleed met een bruin Op- en Onderkleed en wit halsdoek, halverlyf met een hand; alleruitvoerigst, helder en delicaat van penceel behandeling."


1. R. Baer, Gerrit Dou 1613-1675, Zwolle 2000, exhibition catalogue, p. 29.
2. See K.G. Boon (ed.), Hollstein's Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, Rembrandt van Rijn, vol. XIX, Amsterdam 1969, p. 98, no. B102. 
3. See P.J.J. van Thiel (a.o.), Alle Schilderijen van het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, p. 197, cat. no. C128, reproduced.
4. R. Baer, op.cit., pp. 130-1, cat. no. 33, reproduced p. 131.