Displaying items by tag: rembrandt research project

Are there suddenly dozens more genuine Rembrandts in the world?

There are if art authorities accept the findings of Ernst van de Wetering, the Dutch art historian and longtime head of the Netherlands-based Rembrandt Research Project. In its sixth and final volume, published Wednesday, Mr. van de Wetering reattributes 70 paintings—often discounted by previous scholars as well as the institutions that own them—to the Dutch master. They include four at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of those, Mr. van de Wetering is quick to emphasize “Portrait of a Man,” also known as “The Auctioneer,” dated 1658 by the researcher.

A painting gifted to the National Trust has been verified as a genuine Rembrandt estimated to be worth £30m.

The self-portrait, which hangs in Devon's Buckland Abbey, had been the subject of debate over its authenticity, since 1968.

Eight months of investigative work at the Hamilton Kerr Institute (HKI) confirmed it was painted by Rembrandt.

The National Trust said extra security measures had been put in place as well as a specially created gallery.

The painting shows an old, weary man slumped in contemplation in his armchair and has spent more time in the National Gallery's storeroom than on display because it is attributed to a follower of Rembrandt rather than the artist himself.

But the gallery is being urged to rethink. The academic widely acknowledged as the world's leading expert on Rembrandt is about to drop an art historical bombshell by arguing it was not only painted by the 17th century Dutch master himself, but it is also a pivotal work for the artist.

"It is of wonderful quality and is revolutionary in a sense," Ernst van de Wetering told the Guardian. "It is a very important painting."

In 2010, the UK’s National Trust was given five paintings from the estate of the late Edna, Lady Samuel of Wych Cross, the widow of Harold, Lord Samuel of Wych Cross, a property developer, philanthropist, and prominent art collector. Among the bequest was a portrait of an ornately dressed man believed to be a relatively unremarkable 17^th century painting. Although the work bears a signature and date reading “Rembrandt 1635,” experts believed it to be a later copy or the work of one of the Dutch master’s pupils.

The painting, which spent nearly two years in storage, has just been identified as an authentic Rembrandt (1606-1669) self-portrait worth over $30 million. The painting hadn’t been examined since 1968 and recent X-ray analysis along with newly found circumstantial evidence from the Rembrandt Research Project indicates that the work is in fact genuine.

The self-portrait is the only Rembrandt in the National Trust’s collection of 13,500 paintings and will remain on view at Buckland Abbey through the end of tourist season. Once it is taken off view the painting will be undergo a thorough cleaning and further technical analysis. Experts will perform dendrochronology to date the beech panel the work is painted on, the paint will be analyzed, and the painting will be x-rayed again to check for under-drawings.

David Taylor, the National Trust’s curator of paintings and sculpture, expects to have a final confirmation on the painting by early next year.