Portrait of a Young Woman

c. 1690

Aert de Gelder
Dutch, 1645-1727

This young woman’s direct gaze and parted lips lend her a sense of lively presence, as does her right hand venturing subtly into the viewer’s space. This painting has the appearance of a portrait, but the fanciful costume and casual pose suggest that it could be a character study. Such works, which were pioneered by Rembrandt van Rijn and taken up by his pupils, were sold on the open market at significantly lower prices than commissioned portraits. One of Rembrandt’s last students around 1660, Aert de Gelder continued to use his teacher’s techniques to achieve richly textured surfaces and psychological depth into the 18th century, well after Rembrandt’s popularity had faded.

Status: On View, Gallery 213
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Aert de Gelder
Title: Portrait of a Young Woman
Place: Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1685–1695
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 66.9 × 53.3 cm (26 5/16 × 21 in.)
Credit Line: Wirt D. Walker Fund
Reference Number: 1932.1175
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/105887/manifest.json

Kurt Bauch, “Ausstellung Holländischer Kunst von 1450–1900 in London,” Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 63 (1929–30), p. 20.
Art Institute of Chicago, Report for the Year 1932 (Chicago, 1933), pp. 18, 35, ill.
Daniel Catton Rich, “A Portrait by Arent de Gelder,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 27, 2 (1933), pp. 34–36, cover ill.
“Chicago Gets Work by Rembrandt’s Last Pupil,” Art Digest 7, 10 (1933), pp. 27–28, ill.
Daniel Catton Rich, “Chicago Acquires Arent de Gelder,” Art News 31, 21 (1933), p. 14.
Alfred M. Frankfurter, “Art in the Century of Progress,” Fine Arts 20, 2 (1933), p. 23, ill.
C. J. Bulliet, Art Masterpieces in a Century of Progress Fine Arts Exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 1933), no. 51, ill.
Hans Tietze, Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika (Vienna, 1935), p. 338, no. 191, pl. 191; translated (New York, 1939).
Daniel Catton Rich, “Rembrandt as a Teacher,” in Art Institute of Chicago, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Rembrandt and his Circle, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1935), p. 11.
“Chicago Holds Rembrandt Show of Wide Interest,” Art News 34, 14 (1936), p. 5.
Coronet 1, 2 (1936), cover ill.
Paul Gardner, “Northern Painting: 1400–1700,” Art News 39, 10 (1940), p. 8.
“Dutch Art in America: Paintings from a Loan Exhibition,” Illustrated London News 226, 6043 (1955), p. 266, ill.
Cosmo F. Madison, “Portrait of a Girl by Arent de Gelder,” Connoisseur 110, 486 (1942), pp. 96, 158, ill.
Walther Bernt, Die Niederländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts, vol. 1 (Munich, 1948), no. 302, ill; reprinted (Munich, 1960); revised edition (Munich, 1979); translated (New York, 1970).
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), p. 172.
Bob Haak, Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, His Time (New York, 1969), p. 293, fig. 488.
David Raymond van Fossen, The Paintings of Aert de Gelder (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1969), p. 270, no. 74, fig. 77.
Purdue University Galleries, Old Students and Old Masters: The School of Rembrandt, Selections from the Bader Collection, exh. cat. (Union Gallery, Purdue University, 1980), under no. 16.
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. 2 (Landau, 1983), p. 1177, no. 803, fig. 803.
Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America (Washington, D.C. and Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986), p. 51.
Joachim Wolfgang von Moltke, “A Personal View of the Artist as a Painter,” in J. W. von Moltke, Arent de Gelder: Dordrecht 1645–1727 (Doornspijk, Netherlands, 1994), pp. 30, 105, no. 96, pl. 96.
Peter C. Sutton, “Jacques Goudstikker (1897–1940): Art Dealer, Impresario and Tastemaker,” in Peter C. Sutton, Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker, exh. cat. (Bruce Museum, 2008), pp. 22–23, fig. 27.

St. Louis City Art Museum, Exhibition of Dutch Pictures from the 15th–20th Century, Collection Goudstikker, 1922, cat. 39.
New York, Anderson Gallery, Exhibition of Dutch and Flemish Pictures XV to XX Century from the Goudstikker Collection of Amsterdam, March 10–April 7, 1923, cat. 41.
The Hague, Pulchri Studio, Collection Goudstikker d’Amsterdam, November 3–December 2, 1923, cat. 35.
Dordrecht, Pictura, Keuze-tentoonstelling van werken door Dordtsche meesters, 17e, 18e, en eerste helft der19e eeuw, October 1–19, 1924, no. 26.
Rotterdam, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring, Collectie Goudstikker, December 20, 1924–January 11, 1925, cat. 24.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Dutch Art, January–March 1929, cat. 288.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1–November 1, 1933, no. 60.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1–November 1, 1934, no. 89.
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Rembrandt and his Circle, December 19, 1935–January 19, 1936, no. 17; traveled to Worcester Art Museum, Rembrandt and his Circle, February 4–March 1, 1936, no. 18.
Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, 43 Portraits, January 26–February 10, 1937, no. 18.
Kansas City, Missouri, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Seventh Anniversary Exhibition of German, Flemish, and Dutch Paintings, December, 1940–January, 1941, no. 23.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dutch Painting: The Golden Age, An Exhibition of Dutch Pictures of the Seventeenth Century, 1954–1955, no. 25; traveled to The Toledo Museum of Art; The Art Gallery of Toronto (New York and Toledo venues only).
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Six Centuries of Headdress, April 3–May 1, 1955, no. 11.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Portraits: Mirror of Man, September 30–October 28, 1956, no. 42.
Art Institute of Chicago, Rembrandt After Three Hundred Years, October 25–December 7, 1969, no. 68; traveled to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, December 22, 1969–February 1, 1970; The Detroit Institute of Arts, February 24–April 5, 1970.
Art Institute of Chicago, European Portraits 1600–1900 in the Art Institute of Chicago, July 8–September 11, 1978, cat. 6.
Dordrechts Museum, Arent de Gelder (1645–1727): Rembrandts laatste leerling, October 10, 1998–January 17, 1999, no. 28; traveled to Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, February 19–May 19, 1999.

Probably Hugh Ker Colville, Bellaport Hall, Shropshire, England [according to London 1929]. Collection D. A. J. Kessler, The Hague [according to St. Louis 1922]. Jacques Goudstikker, Amsterdam, 1922 [lent by him to St. Louis, 1922; acquisition date according to Sutton 2008]. D. A. Hoogendijk, Amsterdam [lent by him to London 1929]; purchased by the Art Institute, 1932.1175.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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