Rembrandt windfall for Irish collector

Prints fetched about €360,000 at Bonhams in London for anonymous seller

Detail from The Three Trees by  Rembrandt
Detail from The Three Trees by Rembrandt

An anonymous Irish collector, believed to be living overseas, has sold a collection of prints by Rembrandt for £250,250 – approximately €360,000 – at Bonhams in London.

The auctioneers said that "16 works from a distinguished Irish collection" were among the lots in a sale of "Etchings by Rembrandt" last month and included The Three Trees, depicting the Dutch countryside and dating from 1643, which is "regarded as Rembrandt's most consummate and acclaimed etching" , that made £80,500; and, Self Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, described as "one of the most splendid of the artist's 32 self-portraits" , which sold for £32,500.

Rembrandt, the celebrated 17th-century Dutch artist best-known for his painting The Night Watch (in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum) was also famous for his etchings – prints made by pressing paper on to a design etched (engraved) with a needle on to a waxed copper plate.

Bonhams head of prints, Rupert Worrall, said: "Rembrandt's etchings were enormously popular during his lifetime. They offered an opportunity to own a work by a famous artist at an affordable price and, of course, they still do."