Hendrick Terbrugghen

Perhaps the tabacxdrincker that appeared as no. 64 in the inventory of the Amsterdam estate of Jeronimus Ranst's widow, Barbara Carel, compiled in 1678, where it was valued at f 12.12 by Barent Graet & Jan Rosa;
Malcolm Waddingham, London, 1977;
with Stanley Moss, Riverdale, New York, 1987;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Christie's, 8 July 1994, lot 87;
With Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam, 1994;
Private collection, The Netherlands.

B. Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement, Oxford 1979, p. 100 (as signed), reproduced plate 131;
R. Spear, `review of Nicolson, above, in The Burlington Magazine, 121, 1979, p. 321;
L. J. Slatkes in the catalogue of the exhibition, Nieuw Licht op de Gouden Eeuw. Hendrick ter Brugghen en tijdgenoten, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, and Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick, 1986-7, p. 108, note 7;
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, ed. L. Vertova, Turin 1990, vol. I, p. 195 (as signed), reproduced vol. III, plate 1185;
L.J. Slatkes, `Bringing Ter Brugghen and Baburen Up-To-Date,', in Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie, 37, 1996, p. 216;
L.J. Slatkes & W. Franits, The Paintings of Hendrick Ter Brugghen 1588-1629.  Catalogue Raisonné, Amsterdam & Philadelphia 2007, pp. 165-6, no. A54, reproduced plate 53.

The canvas has a recent relining which is sound. The painting is in good overall condition with no obvious major damages or repairs. The paint surface has however become a little abraded in some of the more thinly applied areas around the man’s head. The painting has recently been cleaned and restored. The restoration is concentrated around the left hand side of the man’s tunic and his scarf, and in particular to the left hand side of his hat and hair and the background behind. There has been careful retouching to disguise wear in the beard and the shadows in the face. There has been some repair to the hand holding the pipe but all other intervention is of a minor nature. The restoration has been carried out to a high standard and is invisible to the naked eye. The varnish is clear and even and the picture should require no further attention. This lot is offered in a later ebonised wood frame with ripple mouldings in good condition.
"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."

Alongside Gerrit van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen, Hendrick Terbrugghen was a leading member of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, who were active in the 1620s. The reticence and calm of this work, which largely distinguishes Terbrugghen's single-figure genre paintings from those of his Utrecht colleagues, is as much conveyed by the tonal harmony of the painting as the relaxed expression and stance of its sitter. This warm, earthy colour scheme is similar to the artist's earliest smoking composition, now in the Dobó István Vármúzeum in Erlau, Hungary, ¹ which also exhibits the soft modelling and sensitive lighting of the current work.

Terbrugghen started to paint these half-length genre types after 1621, inspired by the Caraveggesque developments of Bartolomeo Manfredi brought back to the Netherlands by Van Baburen. The focus on smoking here is especially interesting as commercial tobacco production had started in the province of Utrecht less than a decade earlier; in this painting Terbrugghen not only adapts the Caravaggesque style to fit with a Northern model and pose, but also and perhaps unwittingly points to the contemporary social and economic concerns of Utrecht.

Slatkes and Franits dated this work circa 1626.²  At the time of writing (2007) Wayne Franits, who completed the Terbrugghen catalogue raisonné project using Slatkes' files following the latter's death in 2003, and knowing it from photographs,wrote that he "must confess to having some reservations about the picture".³  Since then, in June 2011, he has had the opportunity to examine it in the original, and has confirmed that this lot is a fully autograph work by Terbrugghen.

1.  See Nicholson under Literature, 1990, vol. I, p. 195, no. 1139, reproduced vol. II, plate 1139.
2.  See under Literature 2007.
3.  Idem, p. 166, n1