Considering that one of the portraits was a knockoff of a 17th century Rembrandt, the auction house only set a price of $3,100 for it. For the British buyer that paid 1,500 times more than that, he surely knew what situation he put himself in. In an English auction house the Rembrandt Laughing which experts have confirmed was a self portrait done by the Dutch master, depicted with his head tilted back in easygoing laughter, was bought for a bargain price of four and a half million.
According to one of the collectors who specializes in Dutch and Flemish masters it could have easily amounted to about $30 or $40 million and he was surprised that it did not make as much at the auction. An art expert from Sotheby's, declined to put a new value on the painting. Such a sale is a rare opportunity for coming across a work by Rembrandt does not happen as often only coming on the market every few years.
While in his hometown of Leiden during his early 20s around 1628 Rembrandt made this particular self portrait. This was when he was starting to earn his reputation as an artist and he began experimenting with expressions by using a mirror and his face. It has an incredible presence. In their most natural form was the light as well as the laughter.
One English family held on to the painting for over 100 years. Either it was one of Rembrandt's students or it was his imitator. Due to a number of poor photographs showing little of the painting's luminosity or depth, the auction house may have had a reason for providing a low evaluation. There was a 23 page analysis that supports the claim that Rembrandt was indeed the creator of the art work when the brush stroke, monogram, contour, and materials all point to him.
Taking note of the rare style used by the painter for only about a year or so, the winner of the auction may have suspected that the painting was a genuine Rembrandt from the monogram RHL. What the monogram meant was Rembrandt Harmenszoon of Leiden. For the assessment of the auction house, they recorded the signature HL. These become more compelling [roof especially because they were painted onto the background using a brush stroke that matched the directionality used by Rembrandt.
The shape of the body of the laughing Rembrandt ended up baffling the experts. When it comes to the piece, there was a woolly blanket for clothing, the metal armor and glossy shirt appeared amorphous, it lay in lumpy folds, and there was little description of the anatomy underneath. It was in this work in particular where he used a distinct contour he would later use in his other works. When it comes to the contour there is a certain autonomy to it and this must be because Rembrandt was trying out this particular way of painting the body for the first time.
Similar to that of the other Rembrandt paintings, the thin copper plate on which the piece is painted matches the size and type. Considering this painting, it is similar to other works by Rembrandt as shown by the xrays because of the second painting underneath. It is unclear where the painting had been before 1800, when a Flemish engraver made a reproductive print and attributed the original to the Dutch painter Frans Hals without realizing the face in the picture was that of Rembrandt. What followed was silence and then the painting was again lost.
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