REMBRANDT SCHOOL | STUDY OF A SEATED ROBED FIGURE

Albin Schram, Lausanne,

by inheritance to the present owners

According to an inscription on the mount, the late Michael Jaffé apparently thought this drawing was close in style to the work of the rare German artist, Adam Elsheimer, but most now think it is a product of the Rembrandt School.  Some scholars see similarities with the drawings of the late Rembrandt pupil, Arent de Gelder, who only studied with the master around 1661-63, while others see it as closer to Philips Koninck.

Albin Schram (1926-2005) was a voracious but discerning collector of works on paper and autograph documents. The story goes that his fascination with these records of human interactions and artistic creation was sparked when his mother presented him with a romantic letter written by Napoleon Bonaparte to his future wife Josephine de Beauharnais in an attempt to patch up an argument. The superb collection of late 19th and early 20th century works on paper from the Schram collection, including drawings by artists such as Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, August Macke, Emil Nolde and Alfred Kubin, was sold at Sotheby's last month, under the title: The Artist's Sketchbook: Where Inspiration finds Form.