Two previously unknown paintings by Rembrandt discovered – Kommersant

Two works by Rembrandt, previously not exhibited and unknown to experts and specialists in the work of the great Dutch artist, were discovered during a routine assessment by experts at the auction house Christie`s. The paintings date back to 1635. The portraits depict the artist’s relatives, the Leiden coppersmith Jan Willems van der Plöma and his wife Jaapgen Karels. Both portraits are signed and dated by Rembrandt himself.

Representatives of the auction house, who are quoted by the world media, including the London Financial Times and Dutch portal dutchnews.nlcall the find “one of the most amazing.”

The portraits are considered “unknown” because no one has seen them for the last 200 years and there is no mention of them in more or less authoritative works on the legacy of Rembrandt. In June 1824, they were sold at Christie’s auction (the house does not name the names of the seller and the buyer) and since then they have not left the buyer’s families. The representatives of the auction house call the provenance of the paintings “virtually flawless”, adding that they announced the discovery only after a scientific and expert analysis of the works at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum.

The paintings will be sold at auction “Old masters. Part one” in London on July 6 this year. Prior to that, they will be presented at pre-auction exhibitions in New York (June 10-14) and Amsterdam (July 21-24). In London, they can be seen at the pre-auction exhibition from 1 to 6 July. The estimate is between £5 million and £8 million for both portraits.

In 2009 the auction house Christie`s sold Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a Man Akimbo” for £2,020,1250. Until now, this remains a record price for a Rembrandt painting sold at auction.

Andrey Kelekeyev