Art Institute of Chicago

Portrait of a Young Artist

South GermanLinkedCulture matchlcp-adc2d297e648

Date: c. 1500
Medium: Oil on panel
Culture: Germany
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 59891

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

The youthful sitter in this portrait pauses in the midst of drawing a nude ﬁgure to shape his quill pen. On the shelf behind him are pots of paint, a shell probably used to mix pigment and binder, and a bottle of oil. It has often been assumed that this is a self-portrait, given the individualized features, like the mole on the man’s cheek, and the range of artmaking tools throughout the scene. Whether the artist depicted himself or a colleague, the presentation here leaves no doubt as to the profession of this sitter or the painter’s esteem for it.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
Provenance: Hilmer Åberg, Sweden until 1928 [according to a letter of September 17, 1982, from Johan Norden, Bukowski-Auktioner, to Ilse Hecht in curatorial files]; sold Bukowski, Stockholm, September 13, 1928, no. 32, to Ball [according to letter cited above]; Max Ball, Berlin, and Z.M. Hackenbroch, Frankfurt, until at least 1930 [according to letter cited above; they lent it jointly to Cologne1930; since no owner is listed in Munich 1931, it was probably still on the market at that time]. Paul Tiocca, Paris, by 1936 [see Fraenger 1936; in a letter dated February 4, 1939 to Charles Worcester, Tiocca stated that the painting had been in his possession for many years]; sold to E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York, 1937 [according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1937]; sold to Charles H. Worcester, Chicago, 1937 [invoice dated April 16, 1937, in curatorial files]; given to the Art Institute, 1947.