Rembrandt Laughing Could Be The Artist’s Experiment

Because the auction house did not see the portrait to be anything but a knockoff of a 17th century Rembrandt, the price was set at only $3,100. But the British buyer who paid about 1,500 times more than that apparently knew what he was doing. Four and a half million was the amount paid to an English auction house for the Rembrandt Laughing which experts said was a self portrait done by the Dutch master depicted with his head tilted back in easygoing laughter.

A piece like this one could have easily raked in $30 to $40 million according to a collector who specializes in Dutch and Flemish masters and for him the price given at the auction was rather disappointing. It was according to the art expert from Sotheby’s that the value of the painting could not be changed. According to him coming across a work by Rembrandt happens once in a blue moon so this sale in particular is a rare opportunity. Further information on Photo Into Oil Painting can be found there.

In his hometown of Leiden was where Rembrandt painted the self portrait and he was in his early 20s then in 1628. His tools included a mirror and his face and he played with different expressions at a time when he was already earning his reputation as an artist. Fantastic is the presence it has. In its most natural quality were the light and the laughter as well.

One English family held on to the painting for over 100 years. According to most people it could have been an imitator or a student of Rembrandt’s. A number of poor photographs that showed little of the painting’s luminosity or depth are to blame for the low evaluation given by the auction house. But in a 23 page analysis, he described why Rembrandt was almost certainly the creator of the little work, brush stroke, contour, materials and the monogram all point to the master’s hand.

It seems possible that the auction’s winner was familiar with the rare style used by the artist for about a year and he knew that the painting was a genuine Rembrandt from the monogram RHL. Rembrandt Harmenszoon of Leiden was what the monogram stood for. It was the signature HL that the auction house recorded in its assessment. Matching the directionality used by Rembrandt inn his other monograms are these initials and because they are also painted onto the background they become even more compelling proof. For top-quality resources on Photograph To Painting make sure to visit them.

The body shape of the laughing Rembrandt ended up bewildering the experts. Aside from the little description of the underlying anatomy, there was a woolly blanket for clothing, it lay in lumpy folds, and the metal armor and glossy shirt appeared amorphous. His later works also saw the same distinct contour he applied in this particular work. Rembrandt was probably trying out this method of painting the body for the first time for the contour has a certain autonomy to it.

Considering the size and type of the thin copper plate on which the piece is painted, it matches the other Rembrandt paintings. Rembrandt’s paintings all have a second painting underneath and this is what the xrays have revealed for this particular painting. It was before 1800 and the painting’s whereabouts remained unknown and during this time a Flemish engraver made a mistake and attributed the original to the Dutch painter Frans Hals when he made a reproductive print not realizing how the face in the picture was that of Rembrandt’s. Afterwards the location of the painting again became a mystery.