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Alternate Views

Portrait of a Woman

1635 or earlier

Rembrandt van Rijn and Studio

(Dutch, 1606-1669)

Netherlands, 17th century

Oil on wood

Framed: 97.8 x 83.8 x 6.4 cm (38 1/2 x 33 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 77.5 x 64.8 cm (30 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)

The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection 1944.90

Location

213 Dutch Painting

Fun Fact

This painting is probably a pendant to a portrait of a man that is now at the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art in Japan. Both were cut down from their original rectangular shape.

Description

At the age of 25, Rembrandt moved from his hometown of Leiden to the bustling city of Amsterdam. Within a few years he had become one of the city’s most successful portrait painters, creating remarkably vivid likenesses that seemed to express the personality and soul of the sitter. Here, Rembrandt used smooth, fluid brushstrokes to recreate the soft texture of the woman’s skin. In contrast, thicker, more textured strokes draw attention to the lavish display of her lace collar and gold jewelry—details sure to please a wealthy client. The extraordinary demand at that time for a portrait by Rembrandt meant that in many cases (including, probably, this painting) he called upon assistants to help complete the work.

Video

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed at right center: "Rembrandt. f. 1635."

Provenance

A.B. Antik (Stockholm, Sweden)

consigned to Knoedler & Co. (New York, and London, England, 1919);

sold to Elisabeth Severance Prentiss (Cleveland, Ohio), in exchange for John Hoppner, Portrait of Mrs. Jermingham and Herman Kricheldorf, Still-Life with Lobster, 1919, upon her death, held in trust by the estate

Estate of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944.

Karl von der Heydt (Berlin, Germany) (1906);

Charles Sedelmeyer (Paris, France);

Barbini-Breganze coll., Venice (1847) cat. no. 204;

Städelsches Kunstinstitut (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (inv. no. 927), 1847 to 1882;

sold, Paris, May 5, 1882, no. 30;

Capo de Lista family collection (?) (Padua, Italy)

Citations

Parthey, G. Deutscher Bildersaal: Verzeichniss der in Deutschland vorhandenen Oelbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen, in alphabetischer Folge zusammengestellt. Berlin, Germany: Nicolaische, 1863. Reproduced: p. 339, vol. II

De Ris, L. Clément. "Le Musée de Frankfort-sur-le-Mein." Revue Universelle des Arts XIX (1864): 344-353. Mentioned: p. 347

Vosmaer, Carel. Rembrandt, Sa Vie et Ses Oeuvres. La Haye: M. Nijhoff, 1877. Mentioned: p. 508

Bode, Wilhelm von. Studien zur Geschichte der Holländischen Malerei. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg und Sohn, 1883. Reproduced: p. 405

Dutuit, Eugène. L'œuvre Complet de Rembrandt. Paris: A. Lévy, 1883. Mentioned: p. 29

Bode, Wilhelm von. The Complete Work of Rembrandt, History, Description and Heliographic Reproduction of All the Master's Pictures, with a Study of His Life and His Art. Paris: C. Sedelmeyer, 1897.

Bode, Wilhelm von, C. Hofstede de Groot, and Florence Simmonds. The Complete Work of Rembrandt, History, Description and Heliographic Reproduction of All the Master's Pictures, with a Study of His Life and His Art. Paris: C. Sedelmeyer, 1897. Reproduced: Vol. II, no. 117; mentioned: Vol. II, p. 11

Sedelmeyer, Charles. Illustrated Catalogue of 300 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English Schools, Paris, France: [Printed for Ch. Sedelmeyer by Lahure], 1898. Reproduced: p. 142, no. 125

Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexikon; auf Grund archivalischer Forschungen bearbeitet. Wien, Austria: Halm und Goldmann, 1906. Reproduced: p. 413, vol. II

Hofstede de Groot, C. P. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. London, United Kingdom: Macmillan and Co, 1908. Reproduced: p. 387, no. 846, vol. VI

Voss, Hermann. "Ausstellung von bildnissen des XV bis XVIII, Jahrhunderts aus dem Privatbesitz der Mitglieder des Kaiser Friedrich-Museum-Vereines zu Berlin." Der Cicerone: Halbmonatsschrift für die Interessen des Kunstforschers und Sammlers I (1909): 287-290. Mentioned: p. 287

Rosenberg, Adolf, and Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner. Rembrandt; des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1909. Reproduced: no. 207

Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt Reproduced in Over Five Hundred Illustrations. New York, NY: Brentano's, 1913. Reproduced: p. 207

Bangel, Rud. "Die Kunst suf dem Internationalen Markt II" Der Cicerone: Halbmonatsschrift für die Interessen des Kunstforschers und Sammlers VI (1914): 44-51. Mentioned: p. 46

Errera, Isabelle. Répertoire des peintures datées, par Isabella Errera. Bruxelles, Belgium: G. van Oest & cie, 1920. Reproduced: p. 210, vol. 1

Meldrum, David Storrar. Rembrandt's Paintings, With an Essay on His Life and Work. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1923. Reproduced: p. 190, pl. CLX

Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, NY: S.W. Frankel, 1931. Reproduced: pl. 56

Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936. Mentioned: p. 91-92, no. 229; Reproduced: pl. XLIX

Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. Vienna, Austria: Phaidon-Verlag, 1936. Reproduced: p. 14, no. 350

Milliken, William M. "Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art." ARTnews 34 (June 13, 1936): 6-14. Mentioned: p. 12

Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection : Bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944. Reproduced: p. [18], Plate VI, cat. no. 12; Mentioned: p. 27, cat. no. 12 archive.org

Francis, Henry S. ""Paintings in the Prentiss Bequest." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art XXXI, no. 6 (June 1944): 87-89. Mentioned: p. 88; Reproduced: p. 95

Francis, Henry Sayles. Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. no. 1, 1945. Reproduced: p. 22

Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 22 archive.org

Comstock, H. "Prentiss Collection." The Connoisseur 115 (March 1945): 43. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 43

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 448 archive.org

Gimpel, René. Journal d'un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux. [Paris]: Calmann-Lévy, 1963. Mentioned: p. 236

Saisselin, Rémy G. Style, Truth, and the Portrait. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963. Reproduced: no. 16

Saisselin, Rémy G. Style, Truth, and the Portrait. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963. Mentioned: cat. no. 16

Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, Germany: W. de Gruyter, 1966. Reproduced: no, 485, Listed: p. 25

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 123 archive.org

Gerson, H., and Gary Schwartz. Rembrandt Paintings. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Reynal & Co, 1968. Mentioned: p. 294-295, and 495

L'opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt. Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 1969. Reproduced: p. 169

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 123 archive.org

Bredius, Abraham and H. Gerson. The Complete Edition of the Paintings [of] Rembrandt. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1969. Reproduced: p. 274

Rembrandt After Three Hundred Years: A Symposium, Rembrandt and His Followers. Chicago, IL: Art Institute of Chicago, 1973. Mentioned: p. 34-35

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 158 archive.org

Morse, John D. Old Master Paintings in North America: Over 3000 Masterpieces by 50 Great Artists. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1979. Reproduced: p. 232

Bruyn, J., Ernst van de Wetering, C. J. van Nes, and Murray Pearson. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. The Hague, Netherlands: M. Nijhoff Publishers, 1982. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 661-667

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 256-258; Reproduced: p. 257

D' Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Painting, Part Three. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 112

Levey, Santina M. Lace: A History. London, United Kingdom: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983. Reproduced: pl. 140

Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: zijn leven, zijn schilderijen : een nieuwe biografie met alle beschikbare schilderijen in klur afgebeeld. Maarssen, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Gary Schwartz, 1984. Reproduced: p. 164

Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings, New York, N.Y: Viking, 1985. Reproduced: p. 165

Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington, D.C.: Netherlands-American Amity Trust, 1986. Mentioned: p. 66

Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt, the Human Form and Spirit.. Paris, France: Guillaud Editions, 1986. Reproduced: p. 292, fig. 345

Renburanto: kare to shi to deshitachi ten. Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Shinbun, 1992. Reproduced: p. 31, cat. 8

Van Thiel, P. J. J. "De Rembrandt-tentoonstelling Van 1898." Bulletin Van Het Rijksmuseum 40, no. 1 (1992): 11-93. Reproduced: p. 78

Rembrandt: Portrait of a Man in a Broad-brimmed Hat, Portrait of a Woman = Renburanto : fūfu no shōzō. Chiba-ken Sakura-shi: Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan, 1992. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 3, 6, 8, 9

Tümpel, Christian, Astrid Tümpel, Ivan Gaskell, and Christian Tümpel. Rembrandt: All Paintings in Colour. Antwerp, Belgium: Fonds Mercator, 1993. Reproduced: p. 93

Cleveland Museum of Art, and Alan Chong. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: p. 193

20 Stories: Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan gaidobukku. Chiba-ken Sakura-shi: Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan, 1994. Reproduced: p. 3

Giltaij,Jeroen and Shinji Hata. Rembrandt Rembrandt. Hakkō, Japan: Shiboruto zaidan, 2002. Mentioned: p. 92-93; Reproduced: p. 93

Bleker, E. J.,and A. A. H. Bleker-Poot. Rembrandt en de Blekerfamilie. Lochem, Netherlands: Silverborgh B.V., 2005. Mentioned: p. 107, vol. 1

Bleker, E. J.,and A. A. H. Bleker-Poot. Rembrandt en de Blekerfamilie. Lochem, Netherlands: Silverborgh B.V., 2005. Mentioned: p. 335, vol 2

Kawamura Kinen Bijutsukan. Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art. Tokyo: DIC Corporation, 2008. Reproduced: vol. 1, p. 18, fig. 1

Exhibition history

Exhibition of Hals and Rembrandt, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA (November 1947- January 1948).

Old Masters, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH March-April 1948).

Haggin Memorial Galleries, Stockton, California, 1948.

Benefit Exhibition of Paintings by Rembrandt, Wildenstein & Co., 1950.

Masterpiece Series, Akron Art Institute, April 14- May 17, 1953.

Man and His Years, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1954, p. 15, no. 81.

Chiba, Japan, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, 1992: cat. no. ?.

Three Hundred Paintings by Old Masters. Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, France (1898).

Austellung von Weken Alter Kunst aus dem Privatbesitz der Mitglieder des K. Friderich Museums-- Vereins, Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin, Germany (January 27-March 4, 1906).

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 12, 1936).

Dutch Painting, The Golden Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 5-February 27, 1955).

Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 19, 1963).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Rembrandt Rembrandt. Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (organizer) (November 3, 2002-January 13, 2003).

Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007).

Rembrandt Paintings in America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 19-May 28, 2012); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (June 24-September 16, 2012).

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{{cite web|title=Portrait of a Woman|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1944.90|author=Rembrandt van Rijn|year=1635 or earlier|access-date=04 July 2020|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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