Ever heard of serendipity? Here are a few examples: You’re wandering around a big city, say Paris, walking down an unlikely street or in an unlikely place, (say, on a Saturday morning in the Maubert-Mutualité market), and all of a sudden, right in front of you, a foreign friend from the other side of the world, say US, whom you hadn’t heard from in 10 years! Another example: you’re in a meadow looking for mushrooms (ah, mushrooms!), and all of a sudden, you trip over something that causes you to fall over and utter an expletive (your choice, I won’t tell you mine!), you look and you observe a rounded metal shape, you clear away the earth that is in fact engobing a Roman helmet, you are, without yet knowing it, on what will become a famous archaeological site! (All these examples are strictly authentic).
Another famous example: you’re Newton (no less!), lying napping under an apple tree, an apple falls on your head (ouch!), and all of a sudden you understand and discover the law of universal gravitation! It’s hard to overstate the importance of this fruit, which since Eve and Adam has offered us the joys of pleasure and knowledge (“An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” say our English friends).
Well, from time to time, the history of art is also part of this serendipity, and offers us these treats, these discoveries of works of art, even masterpieces that have disappeared, that have not been inventoried, that have remained unknown until now, and which suddenly strike us in the light!
This is where the art auction business plays a pivotal role, as discoverer and inventor, as we say in other fields. Don’t expect me to talk about this scandalous Salvator Mundi ( click), everything about which is (how shall I put this, so as not to upset the most brilliant specialists in our great museums) “trouble” (phew, the word is wisely cautious). In this respect, it would seem that WUKALI was right from the outset to challenge the validity of the expert reports. You’ll notice, if I may say so myself, that there’s hardly any talk any more of this painting, which has been revamped and botoxed like a 95% old cocotte, and whose whereabouts are still unknown… in short!
A Rembrandt finds the light?
The mere mention of the name of Saskia’s husband, the father of Titus the cherished son, and the master of Hendrickje Stoffels the mistress servant, is for me consubstantially that of the sublime idea of the beautiful and the human. The beautiful and the human, I repeat! Are you in Paris or about to visit? Then take the time to see Rembrandt’s Bathsheba in the Bath, holding King David’s letter in her hand (click), the most beautiful and moving painting in the world (Le Louvre, Richelieu wing, room 844).
An American gallery, Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, has just put up for auction a Dutch painting of a young girl dressed in 17th-century garb, which they attribute to Rembrandt ( or rather “after Rembrandt”) and discovered in an attic in the state of Maine on the east coast of the United States (attics in general, it should be noted, seem to stir the imagination). Here’s what they had to say about it: “Among a collection of family heirlooms and antiques stored in the attic was a magnificent portrait of a teenage girl, her serene expression framed by a white ruffled collar and cap. The work, painted on a cradled oak panel and enclosed in a hand-carved Dutch frame, was impeccably preserved for its age.”
On the reverse of the painting and on the canvas, a glued label (see photo). No further details. The painting sold for $1.45 million.
So “Rembrandt or not Rembrandt”? It would be presumptuous and, above all, ridiculous to express an opinion on attribution at this stage. So many elements are lacking, starting with imaging and chemical expertise, pigments and wood, archives and property deeds and all other documentary elements. A label as expertise is a bit short!
Referring to the reference bible for Rembrandt, i.e. A. Bredius revisited by Horst Gerson (our edition, text 1968, published by Phaidon, 1971, 4th edition), which we know well, we find no trace of this painting of such a young girl. There is no doubt (and we want to make this clear) that Rembrandt in his Saskia years, i.e. during his period of “worldly glory” (before The Night watch 1642), lived in opulence and received numerous portrait commissions.
So, one more, one less? The answer, let’s be serious, can only be no. This does not mean that we dispute this attribution, but the evidence provided is notoriously inadequate, not to say insignificant. Indeed, it’s surprising that there are no recognized experts on Rembrandt’s work, either American or European, to identify this painting of a young girl. In this respect, the Philadelphia Museum has not yet declared Rembrandt’s hand on this painting, and as far as I know, the inventories of Rembrandt’s art dealer, Hendrick van Uylenburgh, do not mention this work either!
Would it be an insult to this gallery to point out that art history, like the consequent economic market that supports it via auctions, needs the assurance of fair and assumed certifications. This is the strength and weakness of the market, a balance of power and seduction, intimidation and trust between buyers and sellers, and each element is a variable entity. It’s the law of business! OMO washes whiter! Yes, but first prove it!
Illustration de l’entête et photos: Kaja Veilleux, fondateur de Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, sur le podium, après avoir vendu le lot 2363, « D’après Rembrandt », pour 1,45 million de dollars.
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