AN ART collector discovered a 17th-century Rembrandt masterpiece collecting dust in an attic in Maine.
The piece of art was sold for a whopping $1.4 million.
At a private estate in Maine, Kaja Veilleux was looking for old things when he came across a picture called Portrait of a Girl.
During house calls, Veilleux said, “We often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find.”
Veilleux found a painting of a teenage girl on a cradled wood panel in the attic just as he was about to leave.
The painting was made by Rembrandt, a Dutch artist from the Golden Age who died in 1669.
No one knows for sure when the painting was made, but it was on show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1970.
The piece was lent to Cary W. Bok, who lived in Camden and died the same year it was shown.
This painting was owned by Thomaston Place after Bok. They put it up for auction during their Summer Grandeur sale.
“They are usually found in Europe because that’s where most of them were,” Veilleux told WMTW, an ABC station in the area.
“But this one made its way to America in a farmhouse.”
The unique picture was found by Veilleux based on Rembrandt’s unique style in painting a “ribbon-candy collar.”
For Veilleux, his finding isn’t just a big sale; it’s about how much he loves art and works hard at it.
“To me, it’s about protecting and bringing this art to light so it’s protected, cared for, and preserved,” Veilleux told the news site.
MILLION-DOLLAR SALE
On August 24, art lovers competed for Rembrandt’s one-of-a-kind picture.
The bidding began with nine calls from around the world and ended with just three collectors.
In the end, the buyer from Europe won it for an unbelievable $1.4 million.
Zebulon Casperson, who worked for the winning art buyer, said, “Out of all the phone bids I’ve handled, I never thought I’d help close a deal for over a million dollars.”
“It feels like a shared victory.”
Rembrandt’s Potrait of a Girl
Portrait of a Girl was originally painted by the Dutch Golden Age artist Rembrandt. The work of art was recently sold for $1.4 million after being found in an attic in Maine. Here’s all we know about it:
- Portrait of a Girl is of a teenage girl with a serene expression.
- She is dressed in a ruffled white color and cap.
- The art piece was painted on a cradled oak panel and encased in a hand-carved Dutch frame.
- Portrait of a Girl was on loan at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1970.
- The 17th-century painting was sold for a monumental $1.4 million to a European bidder on August 24, 2024.
WMTW said that the art trader told them that it usually only takes 35 seconds to sell art.
The Portrait of a Girl, on the other hand, didn’t sell until about 10 minutes later.
“This painting is something you only get once in your life, so once things got going, there was no stopping them.” He told the news source, “It could bring anything.”
The picture will be sent to its owner in Europe.