Sotheby’s sale of Old Master Drawings on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 will bring to the market a range of rare and important drawings from the 16th to the 19th centuries, encompassing all European schools. The sale will be spearheaded by an early and rare figure drawing by Jan Lievens, who during the 1620s worked closely alongside the young Rembrandt in Leiden. Estimated at £70,000-100,000, the study in red and black chalk of the old woman known as “Rembrandt’s Mother” is one of the finest drawings by Lievens to remain in private hands; Rembrandt’s mother appears in many paintings and drawings by both Rembrandt and Lievens. At the time that Lievens undertook the rare drawing of the elderly lady he was in some respects a more innovative artist than Rembrandt. Although he was subsequently to be overshadowed by the great Rembrandt, a major exhibition in Washington, Milwaukee and Amsterdam - opening in October this year - is set to reassess his importance.

The Lievens is one of 25 drawings in the sale from the collection of the late Jacobus A. Klaver of Amsterdam, a collection that was given the rare honour of an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in 1993. The following year, the majority of the drawings were sold in an important single-owner sale at Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, but a core group of drawings - those of the greatest personal significance to the collector - was retained and are only now being sold by his heirs. Among the works being sold is a rare and important drawing of The Annunciation by the leading 16th-century stainedglass designer, Dirck Crabeth, which is estimated at £60,000-80,000, as well as a number of classic 17th-century Dutch landscapes and figure drawings and fine 18th-century watercolour views of Amsterdam.

Posted: 06|30|08 at 11:12 am. Filed under: UK News.