Uncharacteristically spontaneous, Rembrandt Three Heads of Women, One Asleep, 1637 is an intricate, yet intuitive study of a female subject. Focusing on the woman’s face, three different perspectives, each varying in expression, ornamentation, and profile are explored. The intimate study demonstrates Rembrandt’s closeness with his model, the likely subject being Saskia van Uylenburgh, Rembrandt’s devoted wife who would have been twenty-five years old at the time this work was created. A member of a well-established, wealthy family, Saskia married Rembrandt before he became a successful artist; her disregard of his status bravely rejected the social conventions for a woman of her aristocracy. Sketched with both confident cross hatching and uninhibited expressive linework, Rembrandt pays special attention to the shadows of his subject, anchoring and unifying the triangular composition as our gaze effortlessly glides between each depiction of his model.

Created in 1637, this engraving is signed and dated by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Dutch (Leiden, 1606- Amsterdam, 1669) in plate ‘Rembrandt | f 1637’ in the upper center of the image. According to the New Hollstein Dutch, this work is a State III (of III) impression, Nowell-Usticke early State III (of III); Biörklund State I (of I); Hind State II (of II), and a White & Boon State I (of I).

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Rembrandt Three Heads of Women, One Asleep, 1637 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoice accompanying the final sale of the work):

1. Bartsch. The Illustrated Bartsch Vol. 50.  Edited by Stephanie S. Dickey.  New York: Abaris Books, 1981. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 368 (another example illustrated).

2. Biörklund, George, Rembrandt’s Etchings: True and False, Stockholm: George Biörklund, 1968. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. BB 37-D.

3. Hind, Arthur. A Catalogue of Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 152.

4. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Text II 1636-1665 nos. 156-314.. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 161.

5. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Plates II 1635-1648 nos. 139-246. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 161.

6. Mϋnz, Ludwig. Rembrandt’s Etchings: Reproductions of the Whole Original Etched Work, Vol. 1.  London:Phaidon Press, 1952.  Illustrated as plate no. 106 (another example illustrated).

7. Mϋnz, Ludwig. Rembrandt’s Etchings: Reproductions of the Whole Original Etched Work, Vol.2. London: Phaidon Press, 1952.  Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 92.

8. Nowell-Eusticke, G.W. Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Hacker Art Books, Inc., 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. B 368.

9. White, Christopher & Karel Boon. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. I: Text.  Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co.,1969. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. B. 368.

10. White, Christopher & Karel Boon. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. II: Plates. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co., 1969. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. B. 368.

11. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Rembrandt Three Heads of Women, One Asleep, 1637 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with linen-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.