Self portrait etching by Rembrandt – credit, Charlotte Meyer’s collection
It will never cease to be surprising how often it occurs that the works of master painters turn up in people’s attics, basements, and barn sheds.
From Amsterdam comes the story of just such an occasion, when a Dutch woman confined to her home by government decree during the COVID-19 pandemic, used it as an opportunity to leaf through a folder of prints and etchings left to her by her grandfather.
Some of them had been in the family for a century, and wouldn’t you know that it contained 35 etchings by none other than the Master himself: Rembrandt van Rijn.
Signed with his name, Charlotte Meyer was still “sheepish” about approaching experts with her discovery, worried they might be forgeries and so waste everybody’s time.
But when the team of appraisers from the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam arrived, they had some shocking news for Meyer.
“They said, ‘Charlotte, you have no idea what you’ve got!’” Meyer tells Dutch outlet Omroep Gelderland. “It’s such a beautiful story, one you can only dream about.”
The Pancake Woman by Rembrandt – credit, Charlotte Meyer’s collection
Her grandfather had collected the works between 1900 and 1920. Some are very small, measuring just a few inches in length.
“Nobody was interested in etchings back then. They were nothing special. For just a few guilders, my grandfather bought 35 different ones.”
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Priced in gold, a “few guilders” at that time would today be worth several thousands of dollars, but considering a Rembrandt print—not an original—recently fetched $4.1 million at a recent Christie’s auction, it was clearly a bargain.
Discovering the etchings has changed Meyer’s life somewhat, as she has now embarked on a journey of collecting Rembrandt etchings which will now be featured in a museum exhibit called Rembrandt: From Dark to Light.
To be enjoyed at the Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, Meyer will lead a guided tour of the exhibit. which contains all 35 of her grandfather’s Rembrandt etchings, on March 29th.
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