Govert Flinck (Cleves 1615-1660 Amsterdam)

Lot 674 in the above mentioned 6-7 October 1971 sale in Utrecht contained 44 drawings, including ten figure studies and two plant studies. These twelve drawings are executed either on blue or on grey prepared paper and some of them, like the previous lot, bear numbers that make it obvious that they originally belonged to a group or sketchbook of at least 84 sheets. Peter Schatborn published the drawings in 1974 proposing an attribution to Flinck based on similarities with some signed sheets by the artist. For example, the present lot can be compared to a signed drawing of a Seated man gesturing to the right in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem (Schatborn, op. cit., 2014, p. 81, fig. 21d). Furthermore some figures are very close to paintings by Flinck (see op. cit, p. 79, figs. 21a and d). As there are differences in style between the drawings forming the group it is today assumed that they are not all by the same hand and the attribution of the Seated woman making pancakes (previous lot) to Flinck appears today less secure.