Carol Vogel fingers Steve Wynn in the New York Times as the buyer of last week’s portrait painted by Rembrandt being sold by Barbara Johnson:

When reached by telephone on Thursday, he said only: “I’m not discussing it, I’m not acknowledging my paintings anymore.” The day of the auction, however, Mr. Wynn called several old-master dealers and Rembrandt scholars to ask their opinion of the work, “Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo” (1658), experts said.

He ended up being the only bidder. But others were interested in it, too. Otto Naumann, a Manhattan dealer, and Alfred Bader, an art investor from Milwaukee, were prepared to buy it together and were willing to go as high as $40.3 million. Christie’s had given the men extended terms that would give them at least six months to pay.Continue Reading