GERARD TER BORCH | Portrait of a man, three-quarter-length, holding his hat

Miss Wall, Walmer, Kent (according to an old handwritten label on the reverse); With Bernheimer, Paris;

Henry Bernstein (1876–1953), Paris;

Thence by descent to his daughter, Georges Bernstein Gruber (b. 1916), Paris;

With Dr O. Wertheimer, Paris, 1957;

With Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1957;

Henrik Nordmark (1895–1975), Djursholm, Sweden, 1957 (his collector's wax seal on the reverse; fig. 2);

With Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, January 1976, from whom acquired by Baron van Dedem.

Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Holländska Mästare, I Svensk Ägo, 3 March – 30 April 1967, no. 154; Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age, 24 September – 10 November 1985, no. 9;

Washington, National Gallery of Art and Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Art, Gerard ter Borch, 7 November 2004 – 30 January 2005 and 27 February – 22 May 2005, no. 22.

S.J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard ter Borch, The Hague 1959–60, vol. II, p. 104, cat. no. 92, vol. I, p. 86, reproduced p. 250, fig. 92;  F.J. Duparc, Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age, exh. cat., Atlanta 1985, p. 33, cat. no. 4, reproduced in colour p. 32;

P.C. Sutton, Dutch & Flemish Paintings. The Collection of Willem Baron von Dedem, London 2002, pp. 38–41, cat. no. 5, reproduced in colour p. 39;

A.K. Wheelock in Gerard ter Borch, A.K. Wheelock (ed.), exh. cat., Washington 2004, pp. 100 and 202, cat. no. 22, reproduced in colour p. 101.

The oak panel is completely flat and uncradled. It is bevelled at the upper, left and right margins. The paint surface is very well preserved overall and covered by a now opaque varnish which somewhat inhibits the effect of the painting and should be replaced. The head is beautifully preserved and it is possible to determine all of Ter Borch's fine, original brushwork here. There are some areas of thinness in the darker areas on and around his shoulder and in the background to the left and bottom but some of these areas were clearly thinly painted anyway. There is a restored damage to the centre right background. The painting would benefit enormously from minor restoration and a new varnish.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This likeness is one of Ter Borch’s earliest half-length portraits in rectangular format, dated by Gudlaugsson to circa 1652–53. During the 1640s Ter Borch painted a number of small-scale portraits, usually bust-length, oval, and on copper. These works included important commissions for some of Amsterdam’s most prestigious figures, such as members of the Six, de Graeff and Pauw families, but the present painting reflects the shift in Ter Borch’s portraits of the following decade, which are invariably more intimate and imbued with increased sympathy for their subjects. It was this quality that led Ter Borch to become one of the most sought-after portraitists of his era. Ter Borch’s earlier portraits, executed on his return to Holland in around 1640, are largely painted in a restrained palette, depicting the sitter in black, set against a neutral background, and were probably influenced by local Haarlem and Amsterdam painters, such as Hendrick Pot or Cornelius Verspronck, and possibly even the example of Velázquez, whose portraits (on a very different scale) he may have seen during his travels in Europe. While the present work perpetuates this tonality, the pose here is undoubtedly inspired by Frans Hals who, at the beginning of the 1650s when Ter Borch was also in Haarlem, made several portraits of men in a similar stance, such as the Portrait of a Man, today in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.¹ A portrait by Govaert Flinck, dated 1641, and most likely painted in Amsterdam, also employs this pose.²

The present portrait is most comparable to Ter Borch’s Portrait of Jan van Goyen, also datable to circa 1652–53, which is on a slightly smaller scale, but similarly depicts the subject in a pyramidal composition (fig. 1).³ The slightly broader execution of these paintings is much the same, and is likewise found in Ter Borch’s Portrait of the Tax Collector Willem Everwijn, dated 1653.⁴

The identity of the sitter here, who engages the viewer with a direct, dignified stare, is unknown. Considering Ter Borch’s connections with wealthy Amsterdam patrons though, it is highly likely that the gentleman hailed from there, and his clothing and appearance certainly give the impression of a man from the upper echelons of society. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that this portrait was ever paired with a pendant.

1 Inv. no. 91.26.9; see W. Liedtke, Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2007, vol. I, pp. ix and 292–95, cat. no. 67, reproduced in colour, plate 67.

2 Sold Amsterdam, Sotheby’s, 8 May 2007, lot 67.

3 See Wheelock 2004, pp. 97–99, cat. no. 21, reproduced in colour p. 98.

4 Huis Zypendaal, Arnhem; see Gudlaugsson 1959–60, vol. II, p. 113, cat. no. 103;  reproduced vol. I, p. 262, fig. 103.