Lot 1498 D α

This portrait, painted on a copper panel, shows a young man who - according to contemporary fashion - wears his blonde hair at shoulder-length and a plain black jacket with a simple white collar. The work testifies to the fact that Karel Dujardin was not only a master of the southern landscape, but also a highly accomplished portraitist. The format and support medium of the work allow it to be grouped together with a number of other male portraits painted on copper in a similar size, such as a portrait in the Louvre (inv. no. 1401) and the self-portrait in the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. SK-A-190).
In this work, the blonde youth's face appears to shine out from the dark background, and his finely painted features are illuminated and enlivened by a vivid light from the left. The work could be a self-portrait by the artist, and there are indeed some physiognomic similarities to a confirmed self-portrait in the Rijksmuseum. The vigour and lifelike qualities of many of Dujardin's portraits of men has led many of them to be interpreted as self-portraits, and this is certainly a topic that requires more comprehensive research.