Aert Schouman

Unframed. A small nick to the lower half of the right edge. A small area of discolouration of the paper near the upper left corner. There are a couple of tiny brown marks on the forehead of the sitter, but other marks seem to be inherent to the somewhat rough paper. In good condition.
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This impressive and arresting study is immensely unusual within Schouman's oeuvre.  Although portraiture was an important part of the artist's work, figure studies such as this are very rare.  Charles Dumas of the RKD, The Hague, one of the organisers of a forthcoming exhibition on Schouman, has kindly informed us that he knows of only five other figure drawings by the artist, none of which are as direct, informal and engaging as this. The Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, has two male academy studies¹, a third, in black and white chalk on blue paper, was sold in Amsterdam in 1989², and we also know of two female nudes, in red and black chalk.³ The present figure may perhaps have been conceived as a study for a St. John the Baptist.

1.  Inv. RP-T-1892-A-2679, and another recently acquired drawing. 
2.  Sotheby Mak van Waay, 22 November 1989, lot 241
3.  Standing female nude, formerly in the Nijstad Collection, sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, 19 May 2004, lot 160 (as Dutch School, 18th Century); Seated female nude, signed and dated 1760, Private collection Germany, see Neue Zeichnungen alter Meister, exh. cat., Münster, Westfälisches Museumsamt, 1981, no. 85