Rembrandt van Rijn is one of a handful of artists whose name is immediately recognisable to the wider public.
One of the greatest Old Master painters, the most famous Dutch artist overall and also the inspiration for the name of the band The Rembrandts (who did the theme tune for Friends), Rembrandt always causes a stir at auction.
So it's fitting that the The Pieter & Olga Dreesmann Collection of Dutch Old Master Paintings is led by a major work by Rembrandt:
A Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap has not been seen at auction in four decades, and heads the collection of 15 paintings which as a whole represent the greatest single-owner collection of paintings of the 17th century 'Golden Age' of Dutch masters.
 Rembrandt's Bust of a Man with Gorget and Cap |
The Dreesmans have a vast art collection overall, touching on various periods of history, and are currently re-focussing on other projects.
A Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap, dates to 1626/27 and is a captivating work, partly due to the use of chiaroscuro (the use of clear tonal contrasts in the use of light for emphasis and to give volume), which may be due to the influence of Caravaggio.
Christie's has previously sold the two highest valued works by Rembrandt: the most famous: Man with Arms Akimbo for £20.2m in 2009, following on from Portrait of an Aeltje Uylenburgh, sold for £19.2m in 2000 from the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild collection.
Watch this space for more news from this exciting sale - or take a look at this exciting sketch from another extremely famous artist, Salvador Dali, which we have in stock.
