An anonymous Irish collector, believed to be living overseas, has sold a collection of prints by Rembrandt for £250,250 – approximately €360,000 – at Bonhams in London.
The auctioneers said that "16 works from a distinguished Irish collection" were among the lots in a sale of "Etchings by Rembrandt" last month and included The Three Trees, depicting the Dutch countryside and dating from 1643, which is "regarded as Rembrandt's most consummate and acclaimed etching" , that made £80,500; and, Self Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, described as "one of the most splendid of the artist's 32 self-portraits" , which sold for £32,500.
Rembrandt, the celebrated 17th-century Dutch artist best-known for his painting The Night Watch (in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum) was also famous for his etchings – prints made by pressing paper on to a design etched (engraved) with a needle on to a waxed copper plate.
Bonhams head of prints, Rupert Worrall, said: "Rembrandt's etchings were enormously popular during his lifetime. They offered an opportunity to own a work by a famous artist at an affordable price and, of course, they still do."
