Spaightwood Galleries

Updated 10/31/06

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Jan Lievens (Dutch, 1607-1674)

Netherlandish School, 15th-17th-Century Drawings / Flemish School, 17th-Century Drawings

Bernaert van Orley, Lucas van Leyden, Maarten van Heemskerck, Cornelis Cort, Phillips Galle, Hans (Jan) Collaert, Adriaen Collaert, Karel de Mallery, Theodore Galle, Hendrik Goltzius, Jacob Goltzius, Jacob Matham, Jan Sanraedam, Marten de Vos, Jan Sadeler, Aegidius Sadeler, Raphael Sadeler, Wierix Brothers, Jan Baptiste de Wael, Rembrandt, Rembrandt School, Jan Lievens, Jan Joris van Vliet, Ferdinand Bol, Govert Flinck
Lievens was one of Rembrandt's friends and a close artistic associate during Rembrandt's Leiden period. He studied under Joris van Schooten in Leiden and under Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. He was also active in England (c. 1632-34), Antwerp (1635-44), where he was also influenced by Van Dyck, and Amsterdam. Roseline Bacou, Curator of Drawings at the Louvre, which possesses a number of his drawings, notes that "Lievens was above all a great portraitist, as evidenced by his sensitive yet objective black chalk studies. Many of his portraits . . . equal the works of Cornelis Visscher in sobriety and sincerity and have something of Van Dyck's distinction" (Great Drawings of the Louvre Museum: The German, Flemish, and Dutch Drawings, trans. Marguerite Hugo [NY: George Braziller, 1968], n. 89). This superb portrait is rich in psychological insight intno the sitter.

Selected Bibliography:

J. Bialostocki, S. Jacob, R. E. O. Ekkart., Jan Lievens. Ein Maler im Schatten Rembrandts (Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1979); Vogelaar, de Baar, Moerman, van de Wetering, et al, Rembrandt & Lievans in Leiden (Leiden: Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal, 1991; in English & Dutch).
Head of an old bearded man (B. 321) Original etching, c. 1630. Signed I. L. in the plate. The plate also informs us that it was published by S[alomen]. Savery (c. 1594-post 1664), an engraver, etcher and publisher active in the early and mid 17th century. Image size: 189x142mm. Price: SOLD.

Spaightwood Galleries, Inc.

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Spaightwood Galleries is located at 120 Main St (aka Highway 140) in Upton MA at the corner of Main St and Maple Ave in a rehabilitated Unitarian Church. For directions and visiting information, please call. We are, of course, always available over the web and by telephone (see above for contact information). Click the following for links to past shows and artists. For a visual tour of the gallery, please click here. For information about Andy Weiner and Sonja Hansard-Weiner, please click here. For a list of special offers currently available, see Specials.

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