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LENS, Johannes Jacobus (1746-1814)

Hermit praying to the cross

€200 - €300

Black chalk on laid paper, 195 x 155 mm, mounted on 19th-c. album sheet. With framing lines in brown ink. Sm. brown train under the figure's arms. Singed in black chalk at the lower right edge ""J. J. Lens

Figure kneeling before the cross, with some vague outlines of angels hovering on clouds in the upper left corner. The loose handling of the chalk with rhythmic zig-zag hatching giving the drawing a spontaneous impression, associated with the more free sketches of Antwerp classicist artist Johannes Jacobus (Jean-Jacques) Lens. He was the brother of Andries Cornelis Lens, with whom he had visited France and Italy. Provenance: unidentified blue coll. stamp at lower right (not in Lugt)

Drawings & watercolors