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. According to the experts the Rembrandt Laughing was a self portrait done by the Dutch master depicted with his head tilted back in easygoing laughter and it was sold for a measly four and a half million in an English auction house.
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. When a new price was asked to be put on the painting the art expert from Sotheby's declined the request. The works of Rembrandt only come on the market once every couple of years and so the sale is a rare opportunity in itself.
While in his hometown of Leiden during his early 20s around 1628 Rembrandt made this particular self portrait. Already he was earning his reputation as an artist, and experimenting with a mirror and his own face to capture expressions. You could say that it has an unbelievable presence. Other than the naturalness of the laugh, the light has the most natural quality as well.
About 100 years was how long the painting had been in the possession of an English family. For some, either it was an imitator of Rembrandt or one of his students. Showing only a little of the painting's luminosity or depth, poor photographs could have been the reasons why the auction house came up with a low evaluation. Considering the brush stroke, monogram, contour, and materials, a 23 page analysis explained how these all support the fact that Rembrandt could be the only one behind the little work.
When it comes to the winner of the auction, he might have known that the painting was a genuine Rembrandt from the monogram RHL in a rare style used by the painter for a year. The monogram was short for Rembrandt Harmenszoon of Leiden. HL was the signature the auction house recorded in its assessment. Even more convincing are these initials that are painted onto the background and possess the same directionality in brush strokes as the other monograms identified with Rembrandt.
The experts were confused because of the shape of the body of the laughing Rembrandt. The clothing a woolly blanket, metal armor and glossy shirt appear amorphous, lying in lumpy folds with little description of the anatomy below. In his other works he also used the same distinct contour he applied here. This contour possessed a certain autonomy and it has been said that Rembrandt may have been experimenting with this way of painting the body.
When it comes to the size and type, the thin copper plate on which the piece is painted matches the other Rembrandt paintings. Considering this painting, it is similar to other works by Rembrandt as shown by the xrays because of the second painting underneath. The exact location of the painting remained a mystery before 1800 and a Flemish engraver made a reproductive print but attributed the original to the Dutch painter Frans Hals as he failed to notice how the face in the picture was that of Rembrandt's. Silence followed and what resulted as the painting being lost again.
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