Woman Seated on Bench and Three Sketches of Heads
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with touches of brush and brown ink wash, on cream laid paper
Dimensions
14 × 13.3 cm (5 9/16 × 5 1/4 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83920
Art Historical Context
This delicate pen-and-ink drawing, created in the circle of Rembrandt van Rijn, offers a glimpse into the lively studio practices of seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Attributed to the “School of Rembrandt,” the sheet reflects the master’s emphasis on direct observation and expressive mark-making rather than finished compositions. The small scale—barely larger than a postcard—suggests it served as a private study, perhaps torn from a sketchbook or kept for teaching purposes within the workshop. Executed in brown ink with subtle wash, the work combines a seated woman viewed from the side with...
About the Artist
School of Rembrandt van Rijn · 1606–1669
**The School of Rembrandt van Rijn** The School of Rembrandt van Rijn refers to the collective body of artists who trained and worked in the workshop of the master Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) during his active career in Leiden and Amsterdam. Rembrandt operated a large and prolific studio, where pupils paid 100 guilders annually for instruction, allowing him to earn su...