Young Man with a Fur Cap, Seated and Writing in an Account Book

Entry

This drawing was traditionally attributed to Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), the name under which it entered the Rijksmuseum. Another version of the drawing, catalogued as a copy after Metsu, is in the Morgan Library in New York (inv. no. D. 17.14). In 1990 Schatborn reassigned the Rijksmuseum drawing and two other sheets in the collection to Constantijn Verhout (inv. nos. RP-T-1967-92 and RP-T-1885-A-496), both also previously given to Metsu.

Schatborn identified five drawings in other collections that could also be attributed to the little-known Verhout, who, as a painter, specialized in genre scenes with one or two half-length figures: Standing Boy Wearing a Hat in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (inv. no. Tu 54,1), also formerly given to Metsu;¹⁰ Seated Boy Looking for Fleas in his Jacket in the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden (inv. no. C 2042), where it is catalogued as by Jan Miel (1599-1664);¹¹ Standing Boy at a Table in the Kupferstichkabinet, Berlin (KdZ 14004), formerly classified as manner of Gerard ter Borch II (1617-1681);¹² Elegant Young Man Seated on a Block, which appeared on the Amsterdam art market as by Metsu in 1991,¹³ but was offered as Verhout when it resurfaced on the New York art market in 2007;¹⁴ and Young Man Seated on a Bench, in the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (inv. no. Mas 1888), formerly given to Anthonie Palamedesz (1602-1673).¹⁵

This initial group of eight sheets has been augmented by three others, bringing the artist’s possible drawn oeuvre to eleven works. The proposed additions are: Young Man Seated on a Low Plinth, Turned to the Left in the Special Collections, Universiteit Leiden (inv. no. PK-T-AW-1301), a proposal advanced by Leonore van Sloten;¹⁶ and two re-attributions suggested by the present writer, the Rijksmuseum’s Seated Boy, Drawing (inv. no. RP-T-1902-A-4579), previously given to Godefridus Schalcken (1643-1706); and and a Seated Young Man, which was on the London art market in 2005 and in 2014 with the dealer Otto Naumann, New York.¹⁷

Several of these drawings, including the present sheet and inv. nos. RP-T-1967-92 and RP-T-1902-A-4579, may have been drawn from the same model, with only minor variations in dress. Another recurring motif is a book used as a studio prop in all four of the Rijksmuseum’s drawings. In the present sheet, a young man is apparently recording sums in an account book; in inv. no. RP-T-1885-A-496, a book is being read by the female figure; in inv. no. RP-T-1967-92, a book serves as seat cushion; and in inv. no. RP-T-1902-A-4579, a portfolio is propped up on the desk against the wall. Based on clothing, facial features and hairstyle, Schatborn hypothesized in 1990 that the same model was depicted in Verhout’s Sleeping Student, a signed and dated painting (1663) by the artist in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (inv no. NM 677),¹⁸ whose foreground is dominated by a still-life of stacked books.

Another common feature of the drawings now given to Verhout is the attention paid to the rendering of surface textures through the soft handling of the chalk. Here, for instance, it is expressed by the contrast between the furry brim of the youth’s cap and the blank paper used to indicate the smooth cloth of his jacket. Occasionally, the artist used charcoal soaked in linseed oil to strengthen the short, subtle accents along the contours. Due to the oiliness of the material, these lines have bled through to the verso.

Although the present drawing cannot be connected with a specific painting, a similar fur-brimmed cap is worn by a young boy in a painting in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen (inv. no. 89.5.1).¹⁹

Annemarie Stefes, 2019