A Camel
Cornelis Saftleven (Dutch, 1607-1681)
1646
View the original$19
Type
Size · in
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Although foreign to Europe, camels and other non-native animals were sometimes displayed as curiosities on the continent. Cornelis Saftleven recorded one such rare encounter, capturing the animal’s fur by using a combination of black, brown, and ocher chalk, in some areas (the head and haunches) wetting the media to create denser passages in contrast to the dryer, more disperse use of chalk elsewhere. The addition of ink wash added further shading to suggest the volumes of the camel’s body.
- Medium
- Black chalk and brush and black wash, with touches of brown and ochre chalk, on ivory laid paper
- Original size
- 20.4 × 31.3 cm (8 1/16 × 12 3/8 in.)
Museum record · 2 owners · 3 exhibitions
Provenance
- John Malcolm; by descent to Alfred Gathorne-Hardy; by descent to Geoffrey Gathorne-Hardy; by descent to Robert Gathorne-Hardy; sold, Sotheby-Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, May 3, 1976, lot 6.
- British Rail Pension Fund; sold by Lexbourne Ltd., London, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1989.
Exhibitions
- London, P&D Colnaghi, Loan Exhibition of Drawings by Old Masters from the Collection of Mr. Geoffrey Gathorne-Hardy, Oct. 12–Nov. 5 1971, also Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Nov. 20–Jan. 2 1972.
- Art Institute of Chicago, New Acquisitions: Old Master Drawings, Dec. 2, 1989–June 8, 1990, no cat. Art Institute of Chicago, From Pontormo to Seurat: Drawings Recently Acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago, Sept. 10, 1991–Jan. 5, 1992, n.p.; also New York, Frick Collection, Apr. 23–July 7, 1991.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Rubens, Rembrandt, and Drawing in the Golden Age", September 28, 2019 - January 5, 2020, 20-21, 45n6, 314, 335, cat. by Victoria Sancho Lobis, et. al.
