A young huntsman with his hounds by a well, oil on canvas, 111.2 x 152 cm, framed

Provenance:
probably Coll. Joseph Humphrey (British Institution, London 1857, no. 85: Flinck, ‘Hunter with Honds’, without dimensions, cf. J. W. von Moltke 1965, p. 95, no. 134);
Anonymous sale, Winkler & Magnussen, Copenhagen, 26 June 1944, lot 53;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 22 April 1980, lot 32; Dutch private collection.

Literature:
J. W. von Moltke, Govaert Flinck, Amsterdam 1965, p. 95, no. 135, ill., (Flinck, c. 1646–49);
W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. VI, Landau 1983, p. 3709, no. 2285, ill. p. 3876.

Exhibited:
In 1994 the painting was part of the exhibition „Faces of the Golden Age“ in Japan organized by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: April/May 1994, Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo; June/July 1994 Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum, Yamaguchi; July/August 1994 Kumamoto Prefectural Museum, Kumamoto; October 1994 Takaoka Prefectural Museum, Takaoka.

Professor Sumowski writes about the present painting: “In terms of brushwork and colours, this is a portrait of extraordinarily high quality dating from c. 1654. Because of its rich ambience, it is outstanding for a portrait of the time. Stylistically similar: A Shepherdess Binding a Wreath and a Shepherd Playing on a Flute, ex Coll. Smeulers, The Hague (cat. no. 635). As to the treatment of the head, the picture is related to the portrait of Gerard Pietersz. Hulft in Amsterdam (cat. no. 707).”

Govaert Flinck, a pupil of Lambert Jacobsz. and, between 1632 and 1635, one of Rembrandt’s best students, was a painter of portraits and biblical, historical, and allegorical scenes. In the 1640s, he detached himself from Rembrandt’s example as a portraitist, gradually adopting the manner of Bartholomeus van der Helsts. In his later period, he painted highly accomplished and accurately drawn portraits of notable and wealthy Dutch patricians, which he rendered with a cool palette. W. Sumowski about Flinck: “As to the portraits, the transition to an elegant style set in during the second half of the 1640, just as in the remaining genres, but here change did not go hand in hand with artistic decline. Initially, it did not occur to Flinck to repress his sitters’ individual traits in favour of their status. For the time being, he sought to create an equilibrium between human and social characteristics. A sitter was to make an impact because of his personality; his social standing is revealed by the costume, as well as the architectural motifs, draperies, and background elements, and not least through exquisite colours and brushwork…” In this sense, the noble origins of the present sitter, who obviously goes in for hunting, an activity closely associated with feudalism, are conveyed through his costly attire and attributes. His expression is self-confident, while his right hand, in which he holds a hat, rests on his waist. Sumowski continues: “His [Flinck’s] success resulted from savoir vivre, from his skills in establishing promising contacts, and from his principle of always acting in accordance with his customers’ taste… But he was not satisfied with merely pleasing the prominent patricians who were rich and powerful and had a liking for aristocratic behaviour. Flinck also offered his services to the members of the House of Orange and their relatives in Nassau and Brandenburg. And as a painter of princes, he would be all the more thought after among ambitious patricians…” Striving for artistic and social success, the talented Flinck was a typical representative of his time.