black and white chalk on green-blue paper, the lower edge extended by the artist
418 x 279 mm.
Provenance
Russell B. Aitken, U.S.A.
This study of an elderly toper of a certain distinction was probably drawn from life and intended for one of the typical Dutch seventeenth century scenes from contemporary life. Many of the artists worked in Delft and Haarlem, though artists moved to Amsterdam for obvious commercial reasons. Two definitive strands of genre work of this sort appear, one typified by the description of low life by the Ostades and Cornelius Dusart, the other by the more up-market subject matter in the paintings of Vermeer, Jan Steen and Pieter de Hooch. There are few if any firmly attributable drawings by these artists. Our drawing is by an artist from this second group. These include Ludolf de Jongh, Gabriel Metsu, and Leendert van der Cooghen. However none of these have the vigour and directness displayed in our drawing.
