Rembrandt sketch expected to sell for up to $20 mil. on auction
A sketch by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) will sell on auction at Sotheby’s later today. The sketch, titled Young Lion Resting, is expected to sell for between $15 million and $20 million.
“Capturing the power, poise and restless vitality of this majestic creature, this extraordinary work — a rare example of its kind in Rembrandt’s oeuvre — stands among the most important Old Master drawings to come to auction in recent decades,” Sotheby’s said about the sketch, explaining its high expected yield. “It is also the most significant drawing by Rembrandt to come to auction in a generation.”
The 115 by 150 millimeter sketch dates from the late 1630s or early to mid-1640s. It was “clearly drawn from life” with black chalk and grey wash on paper, washed light brown.
Young Lion Resting is one of six drawings of lions by the Dutch master and Rembrandt’s only depiction of an animal that is still in private hands. It has been part of the Leiden Collection, a massive collection of artwork by Dutch and Flemish masters, for two decades. The proceeds from the auction will benefit Panthera, an organization that is devoted to protecting wild cats, the auction house said.
Also on auction at Sotheby’s today is a drawing by another famous Dutch artist, the Enkhuizen-born Paulus Potter (1625 – 1654). Landscape with Herders and their Animals at rest is expected to raise up to $70,000. The 426 by 530 millimeter drawing dates from 1649 and is signed by the artist. “This large, grandly composed and highly worked drawing, previously unknown to scholars, is a major addition to the extremely small group of indisputably autograph drawings by the artist,” the auction house said.
