Dusart drawing

CORNELIS DUSART                         Haarlem 1660  – 1704 Haarlem

A young Man paring his Fingernails.

Drawing in red and black chalk, heightened with white on blue paper. We are grateful to Dr. Susan Anderson for her help in this description.

Provenance:  from the same group as one in the George and Maida Abrams collection. 

Our sheet bears the same inscription, “Sachtleven” as three other drawings, the Abrams drawing cited above, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. n. 40.91.13, A Seated Man from Behind, Wearing a Tall Hat and another at the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, KdZ 2893, A Seated Man from Behind, Wearing a Tall Hat and Holding a Paper. All three drawings, as well as ours, are from the same collection, that of Robert Fullarton Udny (1722-1802) Lugt 2248.

The son of the organist at the church of St. Bavo in Haarlem, Dusart was one of the last students and one of the closest followers of the painter and etcher, Adriaen van Ostade. After the death of Ostade, Dusart assumed control of the studio, and in fact finished some of the unfinished paintings by Adriaen and his brother Isaak (d. 1649).

This close relationship with Ostade notwithstanding, Dusart was a most original draftsman. His three-crayon figure drawings are among his most important works. Three such sheets are in the Abrams collection. They represent figures in repose, often unaware of the viewer, in which element lay their enormous appeal and their originality.  Earlier genre subjects in Dutch drawing are rarely so detailed or objective. Our Young Man Paring his Fingernails represents just such a figure, so concentrated on the small task before him that he is oblivious to us. The use of blue paper adds a coloristic element to the drawing and as well, augments the stillness and air of concentration in the image.

Dusart also executed over one hundred etchings and mezzotints. These prints are often animated by a strong sense of satire. His view of the Dutch peasantry was entirely unromantic; the objectivity of his portrayal of our peasant is noteworthy in its directness.

333 x 196 mm      13 1/8 x 7 3/4  inches

1. William W. Robinson, Seventeenth Century Dutch Drawings, A selection from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg Art Museum, 1991, pp.16-17, fig. 3.