Newly Discovered Rembrandt Picked Up For $185,000 By Eagle-Eyed Dealer

Dutch dealer and art expert Jan Six claims to have ‘discovered’ a work by Rembrandt. Six says that he purchased the painting, Portrait of a Young Gentleman (c.1634) at a Christie’s auction in London over a year ago. ‘It’s that sort of blink-of-an-eye feeling that I thought 'this is better than what they think’,’ he said. He paid USD$185,000 for it.

The painting of a man in black cloak and white lace is the first newly discovered work by Rembrandt in over four decades, and likely worth millions of dollars. ‘He knew instantly when he looked at it that it was a Rembrandt,’ Six’s spokesperson told AFP. ‘He has a huge knowledge about Rembrandt, and has spent years and years researching him. So he was unbelievably excited and also afraid that everyone would see how excited he was.’ Six refused to be drawn on how much the painting might be worth.

It was the young man’s collar that captured Six’s attention as he leafed throug the auction catalogue. The collar was in fashion for a brief period in 1633, and was rendered in Rembrandt’s style. Although it was attributed to a member of Rembrandt’s circle, Six said that in the early 1930s Rembrandt had just come from Leiden and didn’t have a circle. He then subjected the work to X-ray and paint analysis.

• Rembrandt by Himself by Jonathan Jones

Although without date or signature, leading art historians and experts have joined in to authenticate the work, including the leading Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering. Little is known about the painting’s history – it had been in the household of a British family for several generations before it went up for auction. It is currently on show at Amsterdam’s Hermitage Museum.