no Seated Female Nude
Black chalk and white chalk heightening on gray-
brown tinted paper; H: 26.5 cm (io^7 /i6 in.); W: 19.6 cm
( 7 "/loin.)
86.GB.o4i
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: None.
PROVENANCE: C. R. Rudolf, London (sale, Sotheby's,
Amsterdam, April 18, 1977, lot 66); private collection,
South Africa; art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: Old Master Drawings from the Collection of
Mr. C. R. Rudolf, Arts Council, London, 1962, no. 144
(catalogue by P. Pouncey and C. White).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THIS DRAWING COMPARES WITH SIGNED FIGURE STUD-
ies by Adriaen van de Velde such as those in the Louvre
(inv. 23063), Institut Néerlandais (inv. 4784), and Hes-
sisches Landesmuseum (inv. AE 828). While van de Velde
drew those three examples in red chalk, he employed
black chalk in the Museum's sheet and in the stylistically
similar seated female nude formerly in the collection of
Baron J. Vitta, Paris, and recently on the Paris art mar-
ket.^1 The cool coloration of black and white chalk and
gray-toned paper complements the refined and delicate
modeling of the figure. This contrasts with the broadly
applied chalk strokes that set her off from the back-
ground. The delicately featured model appears in other
drawings by van de Velde such as the previously men-
tioned example in the Institut Néerlandais. The Mu-
seum's drawing is a life study and does not appear to be
connected to a further work.i. Dessins anciens des écoles du nord, françaises et italiennes, exh. cat.
(Haboldt and Co., Paris, 1991), no. 38.256 DUTCH SCHOOL • A. VAN DE VELDE