The Rembrandt Research Project of the Netherlands has recently re-attributed up to 70 works to Rembrandt. There now appears to be approximately 340 known Rembrandt paintings. Many of these newly attributed or re-attributed works have in the past have been considered to be lesser works or by contemporary artists, and many are held by important museums. 44 of the 70 works were in the past attributed to Rembrandt, then de-attributed, and now attributed to the master again. As appraisers we know scholarship changes over the years and centuries
The Wall Street Journal reports on the findings……………….
Are there suddenly dozens more genuine Rembrandts in the world? There are if art authorities accept the findings of Ernst van de Wetering, the Dutch art historian and longtime head of the Netherlands-based Rembrandt Research Project. In its sixth and final volume, published Wednesday, Mr. van de Wetering reattributes 70 paintings—often discounted by previous scholars as well as the institutions that own them—to the Dutch master. They include four at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of those, Mr. van de Wetering is quick to emphasize “Portrait of a Man,” also known as “The Auctioneer,” dated 1658 by the researcher.
Not everyone in the art world will go along with the new list, however. Walter Liedtke, a curator in the Met’s European Paintings department, is aware of Mr. van de Wetering’s attribution of “The Auctioneer.” But he says he remains happy with the museum’s conclusion in a 2007 examination of its Dutch paintings “that it is a work in Rembrandt’s style circa 1660.” The picture is not on view. “The scholarly consensus in the world very much remains that this painting is not by Rembrandt, and that has been the consensus for 30 years,” Mr. Liedtke adds. “I have not yet heard his argument, so I should reserve judgment.” As for Mr. van de Wetering’s opinion about the other three works at the Met, Mr. Liedtke says, ““I’ve briefly heard Ernst’s opinions on these three works and so far am unconvinced by them.”
The number of accepted Rembrandts has fluctuated dramatically over the last century, peaking at 714 in the 1920s, according to Rembrandt scholar Gary Schwartz. The number fell below 300 in the 1980s thanks to the deattributions of the early volumes of the Rembrandt Research Project. Mr. van de Wetering sees his recent work as a reaction against the “reductionist” tendencies of the Rembrandt project in its earlier days as well as decisions made by experts at leading museums, like the Met.