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Dimensions: 63.8 by 44.2cm., 25 1/8 by 17 3/8 in.
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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
(possibly) Sale: Frederik Muller & Co., Amsterdam
Acquired by the great-grandfather of the present owner in Rotterdam in 1903
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Exhibited: Vienna, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Van Gogh und die Haager Schule, 1996, no. 32, illustrated in the catalogue
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Literature: De Week, 14th November 1903, illustrated
Zondagsblad van Zuid-Holland en's Gravenhage, 15th-16th November 1903, The Hague, illustrated on the cover (titled Lezende Man)
Jacob-Baart de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh. His Paintings and Drawings, Amsterdam, 1970, no. SD 1683, illustrated p. 576
Jan Hulsker, The Complete van Gogh, Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Oxford, 1980, no. 279, illustrated p.71
Michiel van der Mast and Charles Dumas, Van Gogh en Den Haag, Zwolle, 1990, no. 145, illustrated p. 131
Jacob-Baart de la Faille, Vincent van Gogh - The Complete Works on Paper, Catalogue Raisonné, San Francisco, 1992, vol. I, no. 1683, p. 449 (catalogued), vol. II, no. 1683, illustrated pl. CCXLVI
Jan Hulsker, The New Complete van Gogh. Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Amsterdam, 1996, no. 279, illustrated p. 71
Sjraar van Heugten, Vincent van Gogh Drawings, The Early Years 1880-1883, Amsterdam, 1996, vol. I, no. 35a, illustrated p. 142
The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, London, 1999, vol. I, no. 253, p. 513 (mentioned)
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Notes: Executed in The Hague in December 1882, Man Standing, Reading a Book, is van Gogh's impressive full-length depiction of a man, set in an interior with a bench. Standing before a window, this imposing figure is wearing traditional costume, engaged in reading the Bible. In a letter to his brother Theo, van Gogh writes: 'I have two new drawings now, one of a man reading his Bible [the present work], and the other of a man saying grace before his dinner, which is on the table (fig. 1). My intention in these two, is one and the same. Namely, to express the peculiar sentiment of Christmas and New Year's.'
Although the artist never identified his models for works from this period, the sitter of the present work is almost certainly Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, 'easily recognizable in the drawings by his distinctive muttonchop whiskers' (L. Soth, "Fantasy and Reality in The Hague Drawings" in Van Gogh Face to Face, The Portraits, London, 2000, p. 61).
Van Gogh treats the sitter in a gentle and sensitive manner. His empathy with and liking for his subject - not just as a type but as a human being - is wonderfully apparent in the present work. The strong and expressive horizontal and vertical lines add movement to an otherwise intense stillness. Characteristic of the works executed during the artist's stay in The Hague, the present drawing is a remarkable example of his intention to portray an authentic scene, a glimpse into somebody's real life. Lauren Soth comments: "In short, van Gogh has attempted through artistic skill and correct costume, to convince us of the veracity of his representation. He wants us to believe that this is a real man who lived a real life [...]. It is a representation that claims the authenticity of lived experience" (L. Soth, op. cit., p. 61).
Fig. 1, Vincent van Gogh, La prière, 1881, pencil, charcoal and ink on paper, Private Collection
