A Rembrandt painting discovered in an attic has sold for $1.4 million. The 17th-century artwork, titled “Portrait of a Girl,” was created by Dutch master Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Art appraiser and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux found the painting while exploring an estate in Camden, Maine. The back of the frame had a label indicating that it had been loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exhibition in 1970.
Veilleux, from Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, described the discovery process: “On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find. The home was filled with wonderful pieces but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”
The painting had been owned privately by a family since the 1920s and remained with them after its exhibition in Philadelphia. The current owner’s identity has not been disclosed. The reason it ended up in the attic is also unknown.
Rembrandt, who was born in 1606, is known for his wide range of subjects including portraits, landscapes, and historical and biblical scenes. “Portrait of a Girl” was painted on oak panel and is framed in a hand-carved Dutch gold frame, according to Veilleux.
The painting was auctioned by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries on August 24, and a European collector ultimately purchased it for $1.41 million.
In a related story, last year, a painting purchased for just $4 by a woman from a stack of frames turned out to be a work by Needham-born artist N.C. Wyeth. That painting, titled Ramona, was one of four commissioned for the 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel and was later sold for $191,000.