Lost Art I: After Rembrandt's Self-Portait of the Artist as a Young Man Drawing

After Rembrandt van Rijn’s ‘Self-portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’, 1633. Part of my Lost Art Collection. This was actually a tiny etching by Rembrandt exhibiting his technical skill with very small details. I have recreated it as an ink drawing. The original was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA in 1990 and never recovered. By Oliver Toovey, Ink drawing, 2020. In a frame 5.9 x 5.6 inches in size (see second photo). The Lost Art Collection With this collection, I have sought to recreate, to the limit of my ability, works of great art that can no longer be enjoyed by humanity as they were stolen and never (as yet) recovered. I’ve used modern, not contemporary, materials and sizes are close but not identical to the originals, with a recreation of the artist’s signatures along with mine to ensure they wouldn’t be passed off as forgeries. I’ve learnt a great deal about the techniques employed by these old masters during this project, but invariably my own technique creeps in too. As I’ve by definition not been able to work from the originals, I’ve worked from photographs. Some of these only exist in black-and-white and therefore these works incorporate my own ideas regarding colours, as well as research into what is known about the works and copies that exist. The differences will clearly extend beyond how closely I’ve replicated the artwork in terms of image and colour, into aspects of how the paint was applied to the canvas, the aging it would have gone through and conservation efforts over the years. This wasn’t about necessarily recreating perfectly what the artwork would look like if found today but closer to when it was originally created. My goal was to try and bring some of these artworks back to life to allow appreciation beyond just a black and white photograph. I feel like a key strategy in increasing the likelihood of eventual recovery of these works is keeping them in the public consciousness and I hope this project can aid that in a small way.

Drawing:Ink on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:1.6 W x 2 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.