Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (Amsterdam 1621-1674)

Sumowski notes that Professor van Regteren Altena attributed this drawing to Jacob Backer, but he believes that owing to stylistic similarities with the Study of a seated African (also from the van Regteren Altena collection; sold Christie's, London, 10 July 2014, lot 47), it should also be given to van den Eeckhout. He compares it to a figure in a very similar posture in a Family portrait in a pastoral setting (Fig. 1) dating from 1667 in the Szépmüveszeti Múzeum, Budapest (W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, Pfalz, 1983, II, no. 538, illustrated p. 901).


Fig. 1. Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Family portrait in a pastoral setting, Budapest, Szépmüveszeti Múzeum.