The New York Times got to speak with Eric de Rothschild who sold his family’s Rembrandt portraits to the Louvre and Rijksmuseum for €160m last year. The sale came about through estate planning by his brother Robert who owned one of the paintings:

“I didn’t want to separate the pictures or to sell either one,” Éric de Rothschild said. “For art historical reasons, they were a pair and they should remain a pair. Therefore, I accepted to sell mine with his.”

The brothers inherited the Rembrandts from their father, Alain de Rothschild, when he died in 1982, though the works have been in the family since 1878. “We don’t have any other Rembrandts,” he said. “Grandpa had a few, but we only had two,” he said, referring to himself and Robert. […]

In addition to pieces Mr. de Rothschild inherited, he has bought for his personal collection many works of Pop Art, English School paintings and old masters over the years. “I’ve bought everything, nearly, except Impressionists,” he said. “I never found them very exciting.”

How 2 Rembrandts in a Paris Bedroom Ended Up at the Rijksmuseum  (The New York Times)