Willem Drost - Legacy

Legacy

Drost was one of Rembrandt's most talented disciples, so much so that his 1654 painting titled: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands Folded on a Book was one of the ones attributed to Rembrandt for more than 300 years. As well, when the portrait of a young man on horseback titled The Polish Rider was discovered in 1897 it too was attributed to Rembrandt. Acquired by New York City's Frick Collection, The Polish Rider is one of the Frick Museum's most valued treasures. For years, the painting's subject matter and purpose was questioned by many scholars, led by the renowned expert Julius Held in 1944. Starting in 1984, in a movement led by Dr. Josua Bruyn of the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, some began to believe this great painting may also be that of Willem Drost as may be several others. The Frick Collection has not changed the attribution, and today it is generally believed that Rembrandt initiated the painting but had others help him finish it. These attributions remain controversial, but a reattribution of a group of "Rembrandt" drawings to Drost is more widely accepted.