A HISTORIC PAINTING BY THE FAMOUS PAINTER- REMBRANDT- WILL SOON GO TO ITS NEW HOME AFTER BEING SOLD FOR A MONUMENTAL PRICE... THIS COMES AFTER THE HIGHLY- SOUGHT-AFTER PAINTING- WAS FOUND IN A HOUSE IN MAINE... BONNIE BISHOP SAT DOWN WITH THE APPRAISER WHO SOLD THE ART... AND TELLS US WHY THE PAINTING HOLDS SO MUCH MEANING BONNIE ON CAM: THIS 17TH CENTURY PAINTING... STOWED AWAY IN A HOUSE IN CAMDEN, MAINE... NOW BEING REHOUSED AFTER A SALE OF OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS... USUALLY THEY'RE FOUND IN EUROPE BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE MOST OF THEM WERE. BUT THIS ONE MADE ITS WAY TO AMERICA AND IN A FARMHOUSE. AND THERE IT IS. WE FOUND IT. SOUND IT WAS A ROUTINE HOUSE-CALL FOR KAJA VEILLEUX (VAY- YOU), THE OWNER AND FOUNDER OF THOMASTON PLACE AUCTION GALLERIES... BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL NEARLY THE END OF HIS VISIT AT A HOUSE IN CAMDEN WHEN HE NOTICED THE PAINTING WITH POTENTIAL VALUE THE PIECE- CALLED PORTRAIT OF A GIRL- HAS BEEN AROUND FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS... AND WAS ON LOAN TO THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART FOR A 1970 EXHIBITION BEFORE ENDING UP IN MAINE... NOT MANY PEOPLE PAINT LIKE REMBRANDT, FOR ONE THING, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE TRADEMARKS OF THE REMBRANDT PAINTINGS AND THE DUTCH MASTERS. IS THIS WHAT I CALL A RIBBON CANDY COLLAR? IT'S ALL LIKE THIS, NINE PEOPLE BID ON THE PORTRAIT OF A GIRL... THE HAMMER FELL AT 1.125 MILLION US DOLLARS- AND THE NEW OWNER ALSO HAD TO SHELL OUT ANOTHER 20 PERCENT BUYER'S PREMIUM VEILLEUX SAYS HE USUALLY SELLS AN ITEM IN 35 SECONDS. THIS TIME-- IT TOOK ROUGHLY TEN MINUTES. A PAINTING LIKE THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO GET IT. SO ONCE IT STARTED ROLLING, THE THERE WAS NO END IN SIGHT. IT COULD BRING ANYTHING. IT'S THE FIRST TIME VEILLEUX HAS AUCTIONED OFF A PIECE FOR MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS... WHILE A NEW MILESTONE HAS BEEN ACHIEVED... HE SAYS APPRAISING IS ABOUT MORE THAN THE PRICE TAGS... TO ME IT'S ABOUT PROTECTING AND BRINGING THIS STUFF TO LIGHT SO IT'S CARED FOR AND PRESERVED. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY. BONNIE ON CAM: THE HISTORICAL PAINTIN
Rembrandt portrait found in Maine attic sells for record price
![WMTW logo]()
Updated: 5:24 PM CDT Sep 4, 2024
A painting recently found in the attic of a home in Camden, Maine, just sold for a record price.Thomaston Place Auction Galleries founder, appraiser and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux found a 17th-century portrait of a young girl by Rembrandt during a routine house call.“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” Veilleux said. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces, but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”The portrait, showing a teenage girl in a black dress with a white ruffled collar and a white cap, was in remarkable condition despite its age. Painted on a cradled oak panel and mounted in a hand-carved gold Dutch frame, the piece had an untouched surface and established family provenance. A label on the verso of the frame attributed the work to Rembrandt, noting it had been previously loaned to an exhibition in 1970 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The portrait was auctioned during the Summer Grandeur sale held by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries.When the hammer fell, a private collector from Europe paid $1,410,000, believed to be a new record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction in Maine.
THOMASTON, Maine — A painting recently found in the attic of a home in Camden, Maine, just sold for a record price.
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries founder, appraiser and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux found a 17th-century portrait of a young girl by Rembrandt during a routine house call.
“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” Veilleux said. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces, but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”
The portrait, showing a teenage girl in a black dress with a white ruffled collar and a white cap, was in remarkable condition despite its age. Painted on a cradled oak panel and mounted in a hand-carved gold Dutch frame, the piece had an untouched surface and established family provenance. A label on the verso of the frame attributed the work to Rembrandt, noting it had been previously loaned to an exhibition in 1970 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
The portrait was auctioned during the Summer Grandeur sale held by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries.
When the hammer fell, a private collector from Europe paid $1,410,000, believed to be a new record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction in Maine.
