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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Reclining Nude
Willem Arnoldus Witsen (Dutch, 1860–1923)
about 1917-1922
Medium/Technique
Red chalk on laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 31.5 × 49.5 cm (12 3/8 × 19 1/2 in.)
Framed: 45.5 × 61 × 2 cm (17 15/16 × 24 × 13/16 in.)
Framed: 45.5 × 61 × 2 cm (17 15/16 × 24 × 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of George Abrams in memory of David Becker
Accession Number2022.2001
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsDrawings
Signed
Signed, lower right in red chalk: Witsen
ProvenanceProbably about 1922, with E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Amsterdam (stock no. 2496x) [see note 1]. Possibly owned by the artist and passed by descent to his widow, Augusta Maria Witsen-Schorr (b. 1874 - d. 1943), Amsterdam [see note 2]. June 3, 1942, anonymous sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, lot 200 [see note 3]. August 1942, exhibited at Pulchri Studio, The Hague [see note 4]. May 26, 1943, anonymous sale, Van Marle and Bignell, The Hague, lot 263 [see note 5]. April 28, 1998, anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, lot 369. About 1998, sold by The Van Leeuwen Print, BV, Amsterdam, to George S. Abrams, Newton, MA; 2022, gift of George Abrams to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 6, 2022)
NOTES:
[1] This information is taken from the 1998 Sotheby’s catalogue. Exhaustive searches through the stock books of the Wisselingh Archive online (RKD, no. NL-HaRKD.0005) did not yield further information about this drawing. Stock number 2496 (without an x) came to the gallery in 1922. Witsen’s works on paper may have had a unique numerical system, as a list of his works in an exhibition held at the gallery, also in 1922, are annotated with numbers ranging from 2400 to 2500.
[2] Several comparative red chalk drawings of nudes by Witsen, all about 1917-1922, are known, and many if not all of them can be traced to the artist’s widow. Some are owned by the Witsenhuis, which was left to the city of Amsterdam by Witsen-Schorr when she died in 1943. Others have appeared on the market with a provenance tracing directly back to her. Notably, this drawing emerged on the Dutch market at around the time of her death.
[3] As “Liggend naakt,” measuring 26 x 46 cm.
[4] The owner at this time is unknown, and Pulchri Studio has no further information on the exhibition.
[5] As “Liggend naakt” measuring 26 x 46 cm. The 1998 Sotheby’s catalogue identified this drawing with that exhibited in 1942. While Witsen did other red chalk sketches of female nudes, no comparative drawings are known with dimensions close to the present example.
NOTES:
[1] This information is taken from the 1998 Sotheby’s catalogue. Exhaustive searches through the stock books of the Wisselingh Archive online (RKD, no. NL-HaRKD.0005) did not yield further information about this drawing. Stock number 2496 (without an x) came to the gallery in 1922. Witsen’s works on paper may have had a unique numerical system, as a list of his works in an exhibition held at the gallery, also in 1922, are annotated with numbers ranging from 2400 to 2500.
[2] Several comparative red chalk drawings of nudes by Witsen, all about 1917-1922, are known, and many if not all of them can be traced to the artist’s widow. Some are owned by the Witsenhuis, which was left to the city of Amsterdam by Witsen-Schorr when she died in 1943. Others have appeared on the market with a provenance tracing directly back to her. Notably, this drawing emerged on the Dutch market at around the time of her death.
[3] As “Liggend naakt,” measuring 26 x 46 cm.
[4] The owner at this time is unknown, and Pulchri Studio has no further information on the exhibition.
[5] As “Liggend naakt” measuring 26 x 46 cm. The 1998 Sotheby’s catalogue identified this drawing with that exhibited in 1942. While Witsen did other red chalk sketches of female nudes, no comparative drawings are known with dimensions close to the present example.