Louvre joins Rijksmuseum on €160 million Rembrandt purchase

The Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam may joined forces to try and buy two Rembrandt portraits from the Rothschild family together. Jean-Luc Martinez, president of the Louvre, confirmed this in an interview with French TV channel BFM Business on Wednesday, the Volkskrant reports. Martinez said that he has approached his colleague at the Rijksmuseum, Wim Pijbes, to discuss a possible joint purchase. If the acquisition is successful, the two museums would exhibit the portraits in turn. The Rijksmuseum refused to comment. Martinez also revealed that the French Minister of Cuture Fleur Pellerin has discussed this topic with her Dutch counterpart Jet Bussemaker. A spokesperson for Bussemaker told the Volkskrant that the Minister would not be involved in any purchase, but that she and her French counterpart together expressed the desire that the paintings remain in Europe "some time ago". Pijbes announced last week that he wants to collect 160 million euros for the two Rembrandt portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit. The Rothschild family stated in March that the paintings may be up for sale.