The Leiden Collection is pleased to announce the acquisition of Willem Drost’s Man with a Plumed Red Beret (1654), recently unveiled at TEFAF Maastricht. This exceptional work marks the first painting by Drost to enter the collection. For more information, please see the full press release linked above.
Rapt attention and powerful physicality characterize the bearded figure in Willem Drost’s Man with a Plumed Red Beret. Seated at three-quarter length, the man twists in his chair, gazing intently as if about to speak to an unseen companion. A supremely talented student of Rembrandt, Willem Drost created this remarkable painting in 1654, soon after establishing himself as an independent master. The psychological intensity of the figure’s expression, rendered through carefully modulated brushwork, demonstrates the skill of the young artist, who was inspired by Rembrandt while also developing a distinct artistic voice. Paintings by Drost are exceedingly rare, as his promising career was cut short when he died in Venice at the age of twenty-five.
A full scholarly catalogue entry will be published in the Leiden Collection’s Online Catalogue.
