They were in a private collection
Two previously unknown portraits by Rembrandt were discovered after 200 years in the private collection of a British family, the Financial Times reported.
According to him, the experts of auction house Christie’s came across the paintings of the Dutch master while carrying out a “routine assessment” of the collection of paintings.
“I didn’t know what I was going to see,” said Henry Pettyfer of the auction house.
“I dared to dream. But it was surprising to me that these paintings had never been studied before. They were completely absent from the literature on Rembrandt,” he noted.
According to the newspaper, the conclusion about the authenticity of the paintings was reached both at the auction house and at the Rijksmuseum – the art museum in Amsterdam, where they specialize in the work of Rembrandt. It is noted that the paintings depict a couple “connected by family ties to the artist” – Jan Willems van der Pluim and his wife Jaapgen Karels.
The auction house will now offer the portraits for sale in London in July. Before that, they will be shown in New York and Amsterdam. The estimated value of the two paintings will be between 5-8 million pounds sterling.
Photo: Christie’s will sell the rare eight-inch portraits by Rembrandt on July 6. / Courtesy Christie’s Images Limited 2023.
