Rijksmuseum considering buying Rembrandt painting for €165 million: report

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam wants to buy the Rembrandt masterpiece The Standard Bearer for 165 million euros, according to NRC. The Rothschild family from France wants to put the painting on the market, the newspaper writes.

The French government wants the masterpiece to stay in France and has therefore given French museums three months to buy the painting. But influential French art historian Didier Rykner believes The Standard Bearer will end up in the Rijksmuseum, because the Louvre in Paris cannot find sponsors, according to the newspaper. The French government also cannot pull out 165 million euros for a piece of art in this time of yellow vest protests.

According to Rykner, the Rothschild family approached the French government together with a lawyer for the Rijksmuseum last year, saying they want to sell the painting. The government then decided not to issue an export license for the time being. Though in those months the government did not manage to find a way to keep the painting in France, according to Rykner.

The Rothschild family also owned Rembrandt portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit. When the Rijksmuseum wanted to buy those two paintings a few years ago, a commotion erupted in France which eventually resulted in the Dutch and French states jointly buying the portraits for 160 million euros.