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Saul and the Witch of Endor

Attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606 - 1669)
Dateca. 1650-1652
MediumBrown ink and wash on paper
DimensionsUnframed: 6 1/16 x 8 1/2 inches (15.39 x 21.59 cm)
Framed: 17 x 21 x 1 1/4 inches (43.18 x 53.34 x 3.18 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number61-25/2
On View
Not on view
Collections
Exhibition History

Scenes from the Hebrew Scriptures, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 2-September 18, 1983, no. 45.

The Age of Rembrandt, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, August 1-September 27, 1992, no cat.

Dürer to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, June 23-August 18, 1996; The Cummer Museum and Gardens, Jacksonville, FL, September 20-November 29, 1996; The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, December 21, 1996-March 2, 1997, no. 27, as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Dürer to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Permanent Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 12-September 6, 1998, no cat., as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Religious Subjects: A Variety of Approaches, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 8-October 12, 2011, no cat., as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Gallery Label
Rembrandt's work was always popular, so he had a large workshop and many followers. As a result, the authenticity of many paintings and drawings purported to be by him has been disputed, as is the case with this example. However, the manner in which the essential character of the figures is so economically delineated by a few forceful strokes of the pen suggests that, if not by Rembrandt, this is at least by a talented follower.
Provenance

Unknown collector with mark of cursive D (not in Lugt) on the verso, bottom left corner;

Marsden J. Perry (1850-1935), Providence, RI [1];

Wilhelm Reinhold Otto Valentiner (1880-1958), Raleigh, NC;

Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), Bally, PA;

Purchased from Harry Bertoia by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1961.

NOTES:

[1] Lugt 1880

Published References

Ross E. Taggart, “Three Drawings by Rembrandt,” Bulletin (The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum) vol. 3, no. 3 (Spring 1961): 1, 4-6, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor Calling Forth the Spirit of Samuel.

n.a., “Accessions of American and Canadian Museums: April-June, 1961,” The Art Quarterly 24, no. 3 (Autumn 1961): 304, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor Calling Forth the Spirit of Samuel.

Werner Sumowski, “Rembrandtzeichnungen,” Pantheon 29, no. 2 (March-April 1971): 127-28, 131, 136, (repro.), erroneously as Nebukadnezar im Wahnsinn (Nebuchadnezzar stricken by madness).

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 181, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor Calling Forth the Spirit of Samuel.

Ross E. Taggart and Roger Ward, Scenes from the Hebrew Scriptures, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1983), 14, 37, (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 168, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Roger Ward, Dürer to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1996), 11, 103-04, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 77, (repro.), as Saul and the Witch of Endor.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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