An art appraiser’s routine estate visit in Camden, Maine, led to a groundbreaking discovery of a rare 17th-century portrait after Rembrandt in an attic Saturday, PR Newswire reported.
Kaja Veilleux, an auctioneer and a seasoned appraiser with decades in the fine art industry, found the artwork that had been hidden away for years, according to PR Newswire. The painting was later sold for an astonishing $1.4 million at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, setting a new record for art sales in Maine.
Veilleux was conducting one of his regular house calls when he stumbled upon the portrait. The painting, which depicts a young girl dressed in a black gown with a white ruffled collar, was found in pristine condition, despite its age, and retained its original hand-carved Dutch frame.
“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” Veilleux commented. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces, but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”
Rembrandt portrait found in Maine attic sells for record price | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/pQioF7T5c7
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The portrait was included in Thomaston Place’s Summer Grandeur auction, a three-day event featuring a vast array of fine art and antiques. As the bidding for lot 2363 began, international buyers eagerly competed, with the price rapidly climbing into six figures. The final moments of the auction saw intense competition among three phone bidders, culminating in a winning bid of $1.4 million by a private European collector, PR Newswire reported.
Zebulon Casperson, representing the winning bidder, described the auction as a thrilling experience, according to the outlet. “It was amazing. I never imagined closing a deal for over a million dollars. It feels like a shared victory,” he remarked.
