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Louvre Abu Dhabi Announces Acquisition of £9.48m Rembrandt Study

February 11, 2019 by Marion Maneker

At Sotheby’s in London last December there was a lot of interest in a Rembrandt oil study from the so-called Face of Jesus group that had been in the same family for 60 years. The guaranteed work was covered with an irrevocable bid and estimated at between £6-8m. It sold for a £8.2m hammer price, or £9.48m with fees. We learned today that the buyer was the Louvre Abu Dhabi:

Louvre Abu Dhabi has acquired a rare oil sketch—Head of a young man, with clasped hands: Study of the figure of Christ, ca. 1648–56—by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), one of the most celebrated artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Painted on oak panel in the Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands) and identified as the Master’s work in the 1930s, it belongs to a series of oil sketches referred to as Rembrandt’s Face of Jesus group. Head of a young man was purchased by Louvre Abu Dhabi in December.

This masterpiece is the first work by Rembrandt known to have been acquired for a public collection in the Gulf region. It appeared recently in exhibitions at the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Detroit Institute of Art; and Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. It will make its first appearance at Louvre Abu Dhabi in the exhibition Rembrandt, Vermeer & the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre before joining Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent collection.

The acquisition of this rare masterpiece follows the unveiling of 11 new additions to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent collection in October 2018. In keeping with the museum’s mission to highlight cross-cultural connections in a variety of forms, last year’s acquisitions include a range of exquisite objects from around the world and the region, including a monumental Buddhist sculpture from China (11th-12th CE), four tapestries from French royal manufacturers depicting The Hunts of Maximilian, the Duke of Brabant, as well as a rare Ottoman horse armour (15th-16th CE).

Manuel Rabaté, Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi, said: “Rembrandt was one of history of art’s greatest storytellers, with an exceptional ability to capture the human soul in his artworks. With this latest acquisition, the first ever Rembrandt joining a museum collection in the Gulf, our visitors can experience the power of his creations first-hand, initially in our opening exhibition for 2019 and following that in our galleries. It will join the 650 artworks of the museum’s collection from cultures around the world, celebrating the universal creativity of humanity”.

Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi, added: “We make each new addition to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s expanding collection with great rigor and care, in order to deepen and enhance the museum’s universal narrative. This exceptional work reflects the new cultural perspectives that emerged during the Dutch Golden Age due to international trade expansion and exchange of ideas. It also demonstrates the great Master’s understanding of the fragility and intense spirituality of life, which inspired so many artists after him.”

The Dutch Golden Age was a brief period during the 17th century when the new Dutch merchant republic, freshly independent from the Spanish Crown, was regarded as the most prosperous state in Europe. Worldwide trade led by the Dutch East India Company, combined with military advancements and new developments in art and science, gave the Low Countries (the coastal region of northwestern Europe, consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) an important advantage throughout Europe and the world. Major commissions brought Vermeer and Rembrandt to the forefront of a new artistic movement, in which Protestant workers developed new themes and iconographies depicting a more realistic daily life.

In Head of a young man, the face of the black-haired man seems to be both illuminated and rendered through large brushed gestures. The same model appears in a series of studies and works by Rembrandt that was created during the same period as the artist’s renowned Supper at Emmaus (Paris, Musée du Louvre, ca. 1648).

Head of a young man is one of the finest examples of Rembrandt’s seven surviving oil sketches from the Face of Jesus group.  When viewed with the other surviving sketches, it reveals the way in which Rembrandt could find the best angle or profile to use light to portray Jesus “after life,” with the model probably coming from the local Jewish community.

The portrait and subject matter show a new representation in the Christian world. The clasped hands emphasise narrative not distinguishable at first glance. And Rembrandt chose to represent a man in prayer, rather than a king, expressing—in an ecumenical way—the humble humanity of man.

The exhibition Rembrandt, Vermeer & the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre is co-curated by Blaise Ducos, Chief Curator of Dutch and Flemish paintings at the Musée du Louvre and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, Curator of The Leiden Collection and a specialist in 17th century Dutch and Flemish art. The exhibition will be on view from February 14 through May 18, 2019, at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

 

Rare Rembrandt Print at Christie’s London in July

May 2, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Christie’s has a Rembrandt print featured in its Old Master sales in London this July.

Christ Presented to The People (‘Ecce Homo’) is considered to be among Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn’s (1606-1669) most significant achievements in any medium (estimate on request: in the region of $3-5million). One of the world’s most versatile, innovative, and influential artists, Rembrandt is viewed by many as the greatest printmaker of any generation. Epitomizing an artist at the height of his powers, both artistically and technically, this extraordinary drypoint of 1655 dates from his third decade as a printmaker. Executed on a monumental scale, the present work is one of only eight known impressions of the celebrated first state of this print and is the last known example in private hands. The other seven known impressions of this state are in major museum collections: Kupferstichkabinett der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Ashmolean Museum, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Musée du Louvre (Rothschild Collection) and the Graphische Sammlung Albertina.

Offered from The Collection of the late Samuel Josefowitz, it is on public view at Christie’s New York until 5 May; going on view in Hong Kong from 24 to 28 May and then in London from 15 to 28 June and 30 June to 5 July, ahead of being offered for sale during Christie’s Classic Week in London, in the Old Masters Evening Sale on 5 July.

Rembrandt Stolen from LA’s Ritz-Carlton Found

August 16, 2011 by Marion Maneker

It was a small art heist turned into a big media event. The Rembrandt drawing valued at $250,000 stolen from a lobby exhibit at the Ritz-Carlton has been recovered according to NBC Los Angeles:

Rembrandt’s “The Judgment” was found in Encino Monday night after being stolen from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey. The drawing was found in a building at an Encino church, according to investigators.

Det. Clarence Williams, wearing white gloves, held the drawing during a Tuesday morning news conference at the sheriff’s department.

“It appears they took it off the easel,” said Williams. “They realized it’s going to be very hard to sell because of coverage of this incident.”

Rembrandt Lost, Then Found at Encino Church (NBC Los Angeles)

Rembrandt Attribution Worth $7m

October 22, 2010 by Marion Maneker

CNN reports that the new attribution for this work as a Rembrandt has boosted its insurance value by $7m:

“Tobias and his Wife” (1659), an oil painting on wood panel, was previously attributed to a pupil of Rembrandt’s called Barent Fabricius. Since its change in status, the painting, which depicts a man and his wife sitting down near an open hearth, has increased in insurance value from $4 million (€3 million) to $11 million (€8 million).

The story goes on to quote Paul Raison of Christie’s on why the matter of who painted the work isn’t clear from the historical record:Continue Reading

Wynn Lucks Out

August 18, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The Daily Beast has a good story explaining the gamble Steve Wynn took bidding on Rembrandt’s Man with Arms Akimbo that benefited from Barbara Johnson’s unwillingness to have the picture loaned out to prospective buyers:

“Steve got a great deal, no doubt about it, and the reason he did is largely due to me,” said Otto Naumann, one of New York’s foremost dealers. “I made a mistake not bidding on that painting, plain and simple.” […] “I looked at the painting for hours, trying to imagine how the face would look after cleaning,” Naumann said. “It seemed so flat and dull and lacking any color. Under magnification, I could see only a bit of pink near the edges of cracks. I never imagined that a thin veil of pink glaze existed over the entire passage, then hidden by a yellow varnish.” Continue Reading

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