Rembrandt’s painting banned for export, while remaining in the UK

Rembrandt’s painting “Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet” (1657), which was banned from exporting from the United Kingdom last fall, will be leased to the National Museum Cardiff. An anonymous foreign buyer has provided this masterpiece to the museum for a period of three years.

The painting was put on public display on April 5 in the Danish gallery of the museum. Since 1860, the painting was in Pernrin Castle, in North Wales. Last summer, it was sold privately at Sotheby’s auction to an unknown foreign buyer for £ 35 million. After the new owner applied for an export license last October, Minister of Culture Ed Wasey imposed a temporary ban on him. The Art Fund was planning to lead a public campaign to buy Rembrandt’s painting for the Cardiff National Museum at a price of £ 22.5 million (including tax breaks), but on the eve of the start of fundraising, October 26, Sotheby’s representative told the fund that an application for an export license is being withdrawn and the picture will be stored in the UK for now.

The director of the fund, Stephen Deuchar, later said that under these conditions, he could not start a fundraising campaign, as there was no threat of export. In 2025, ten years after the withdrawal of an application for an Rembrandt export license, the owner will be entitled to submit a new application. By that time, tax incentives will no longer apply, and the picture will have to be redeemed at its full cost, and collecting such an amount will not be easy.

An anonymous owner of Rembrandt stated through his representative that he was “very happy to have the opportunity to share the pleasure of this great painting with the public by providing it to the National Museum of Wales.” According to the press secretary of the museum, the previous owner of Rembrandt donated 10,000 pounds to finance the educational program associated with this picture. Docher also stated that “although he is very glad that Rembrandt returned to Cardiff for a while, the Art Fund did not give up hope of one fine day acquiring a painting for the UK.” At the same time, he promised to continue work on improving systems protecting the country’s treasures.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru