Probably by Rembrandt, 'An Old Man in an Armchair', 1650s

An Old Man in an Armchair

Probably by Rembrandt

Room 22

About the work

Overview

Some of Rembrandt’s most powerful paintings are of men and women immersed in thought, depicted with bold brushwork and dramatic, shadowy light effects. Slumped sideways across a chair, one hand gripping the wooden arm and the other resting lightly on his temple, this elderly man is in just such a mood. His eyes are cast down towards the floor, and the light which slants across his body from behind his left shoulder throws them into a deep shade.

This is not a portrait but a study of a ‘character type’ and Rembrandt has used it to experiment with a suggestive, sometimes quite rough, style of painting. The highlights on the left sleeve, for example, are depicted with only half a dozen very broad brushstrokes. This has led to doubts over its authenticity, but it is now believed that this highly innovative approach represents an important experimental step in Rembrandt’s development towards the rough manner of his later works.

In-depth

Some of Rembrandt’s most powerful paintings – especially those made later in his life – are of men and women immersed in thought, depicted with bold brushwork and dramatic, shadowy light effects. Slumped sideways across a chair, one hand gripping the wooden arm and the other resting lightly on his temple, this elderly man is in just such a mood. His eyes are cast down towards the floor, and the light which slants across his body from behind his left shoulder throws them into a deep shade. This is not a portrait of an individual but a study of a ‘character type’, a genre of painting that lends itself to experimentation far more than would a formal portrait. And this picture does seem to be highly experimental.

Rembrandt has captured the gleam on the man’s fingernail and the dry skin of his wrist with simple dabs and flecks of white paint. Bright white and yellow pigments evoke the shimmer on the fur collar and on the patch of yellow silk or satin next to it. These highlights, together with the man’s balding head, the fuzz of greying hair, the upper part of his face and the wooden upright of the chair immediately behind are the only parts of the painting which have been articulated with precision. Although they have been evoked economically in places, with relatively few brushstrokes, they remain convincing even when we look quite closely at the painting. The rest of the picture is much more roughly sketched in. The highlights on the left sleeve, for example, are depicted with only half a dozen very broad brushstrokes. We have to stand well back from the canvas for the illusion to work.

This highly suggestive, sometimes quite rough, style of painting was very innovative for the time, and it was an approach which became more typical of Rembrandt’s work as he grew older. However, some studies have argued that inconsistencies – and some perceived clumsiness – in the painting style do not amount to experimentation. And they point to some unusual use of pigments that raise questions over the painting’s authorship, suggesting that, even though Rembrandt has apparently signed and dated (1652) the picture himself in the top left-hand corner, it may be at least partly by a contemporary pupil or follower. In seventeenth-century Holland, a signature did not necessarily guarantee authorship in the way we think of it today. Rembrandt employed several apprentices who were encouraged to copy his paintings and to create their own independent compositions inspired by motifs or themes borrowed from his original works. While still apprentices, pupils were not allowed to sign their works; some of their better efforts may have been signed by their master before leaving the studio.

It is hard to believe that a painter would have taken such a bold and innovative approach when attempting to imitate the style of his master, and it has recently been convincingly proposed that this work does indeed represent an important early and experimental step in Rembrandt’s development towards the rough manner of his later works.

Key facts

Details

Full title: An Old Man in an Armchair
Artist: Probably by Rembrandt
Artist dates: 1606 - 1669
Date made: 1650s
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 111 × 88 cm
Acquisition credit: Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Estate Duty and allocated to the National Gallery, 1957
Inventory number: NG6274
Location: Room 22
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century Flemish Frame

Provenance

Almost certainly among the pictures at Chiswick House collected by the 3rd Earl of Burlington (d. 1753) which passed by inheritance to the 4th Duke of Devonshire; in any case in the Duke’s collection at Chiswick House, apparently by 1761 and certainly by 1766. Acquired (under the Finance Act, 1956) from the 11th Duke of Devonshire, August 1957.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2010

Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries

The National Gallery (London)

30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
2024

Impulse Rembrandt - Teacher, Strategist, Bestseller

Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig

3 October 2024 - 26 January 2025

Bibliography

1830

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
1897

W. von Bode and C. Hofstede de Groot, The Complete Work of Rembrandt, 8 vols, Paris 1897
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1958

The National Gallery, The National Gallery: July 1956 - June 1958, London 1958
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1966

K. Clark, Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance, London 1966
1969

G. Martin, 'The Death of a Myth', Apollo, XC, 1969, pp. 266-7
1973

W. Sumowski, 'Kritische Bemerkungen Zur Neuesten Gemälde Kritik', in O. von Simson and J. Kelch (eds), Neue Beiträge zur Rembrandt-Forschung, Berlin 1973, pp. 91-110
1985

G. Schwartz, Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings, Harmondsworth 1985
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
1992

P.J.J. van Thiel, 'De Rembrandt-tentoonstellung van 1898', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 1, 1992, pp. 11-93
1993

C. Tümpel, Rembrandt: All Paintings in Colour, Antwerp 1993
1993

R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 86-94
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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