The Last Drop

The Last Drop is a c. 1629 oil painting by Judith Leyster in the John G. Johnson collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was regarded as a work by Frans Hals until 1903, when it was noticed that it is signed 'JL*' on the tankard. Background The artist Judith Leyster was a well-known artist during the seventeenth century; however, her reputation was forgotten soon after her death. There were no mentions of her name to be found in sales records and no prints made of her artwork. However, early in her career, she was recognized as the very first woman artist in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. It was not until 1893 that Judith Leyster was rediscovered and was given recognition as a leading woman in Dutch Golden Age painting. Provenance Judith Leyster's The Last Drop was in the collection of Sir George Donaldson in London around 1903. The canvas was then sold from the collection of Cornelis Hoogendijk at Frederik Muller & Co, Amsterdam, on April 28 or 29, 1908. From there, it was acquired by John G. Johnson for the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia.