Summary description
Oil painting on oak panel (circular), A Young Man with a Pink, Hans Holbein the Younger (Augsburg 1497/8 - London 1543), inscribed in gold ANNO (left centre) 1533 (right centre). A bust portrait against a blue background, facing slightly left, wearing a black cloak open at the neck showing a red vest and white linen shirt, a flat black cap, holding a pink in his right hand.
Holbein is chiefly known as portrait painter to the court of Henry VIII. A German, he made his first trip to England in 1526 at the invitation of Sir Thomas More. His second visit in 1532 lasted until his death from the plague in 1543. Holbein’s English portraits are among his best works and are marked by a severe objectivity.
Provenance
Franz Jäger (1781–1839), Vienna; ? his posthumous sale, Vienna, 17–18 December 1841, lot 57 [if so, bought in, since reported by Waagen as in the possession of his eldest son, Anton, in 1860]; Anton Jäger, Vienna; F. J. Gsell, Vienna (by 1866); his [posthumous?] sale, Vienna, 14 March 1872, lot 208 (bought by Plach); Fräulein Gabriele Pržibram, Vienna [and/or Prague?] (by 1891); thence by descent to Frau L. Goldschmidt- Pržibram [actually one and the same as the foregoing?], Brussels; her [posthumous?] sale, Frederick Müller, Amsterdam, 17 June 1924, lot 2, repd.; bought on behalf of the 2nd Viscount Bearsted by Agnew’s, for £3,720.14.7, plus 5% commission [£3,906.15.4]; given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948) shortly before his death
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: ANNO 1533 (dated)
Verso: on a paper label, top left: City of Manchester Art Gallery 50
on a paper label, top right: The Rt Hon Viscount Bearsted
on a paper label, covering the back panel: Hans Holbein / 1497-1543 / “Portrait of a Man” / Ex Collection Gsell / Jager / Lippman / Frauline Gabriele Przibram (Vienna) / Frau L Goldschimdt-Przibram (Brussels) / Reproduced in Klassiker der Kunst page 104 / Catalogue of “Exposition de la Miniature” Brussels 1912 (being plate 1) No. 855a / Described by Dr. Woltman in his “Holbein und Seine Zeit” as a portrait of Holbein himself / Dressed in the flat black cap and costume of the German merchants of the steelyard / (see Hans Holbein the Younger by Arthur B. Chamberlain, 1913, in which the Goldschimdt-Przibram picture is mentioned. Vol II, page 57 and 349)
on a paper label fragment, bottom centre: Gallerie Gsell
on a gilt wooden tablet, bottom centre: Jean HOLBEIN le jeune 1498-1543
Makers and roles
Hans Holbein the younger (Augsburg 1497/8 - London 1543), artist
References
Waagen 1866 G. F. Waagen, Die Vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien, Vienna, 1866, vol. I, p.317
Woltman 1868 A. Woltmann, Holbein und seine Zeit, Leipzig, 1868, vol. II, p.154, No.261
Frimmel 1891 T. Frimmel, Kleine Galeriestudien, Bamberg, 1891, p.293
Ganz 1912 P. Ganz, Holbein (Klassiker der Kunst), 1912, pp.104 (repd.), 241
Chamberlain, 1913: Arthur B.Chamberlain, Hans Holbein the Younger, 2 vols, London, 1913, vol.II, pp.57, 349
Ganz 1950 P. Ganz, The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger, London, 1950, p.244, No.77, pl.118.
Strong 1980 Roy Strong, Holbein: The Complete Paintings, London, 1980, p.58, ill. p.58, no.80
Rowlands 1985 John Rowlands, The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger, Oxford, 1985, no.48, pp.140-41 & pl.86
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