A New Jersey family got the shock of a lifetime when a painting they believed to be worth a couple of hundred dollars turned out to be a genuine Rembrandt.
A recent Fox News report found the work had previously hung on the walls of the Landau brothers’ grandparents' dining room for many years.
The work is one of five Rembrandt paintings depicting each of the senses
When their mother died, the brothers consigned her estate (including the painting) at Nye & Company in Bloomfield.
It turned out to be a long lost work from 1624 titled The Unconscious Patient (An Allegory of the Sense of Smell), one of a series of five Rembrandt paintings on the senses.
The Landau family had no idea of the work’s value.
Even auctioneers were stumped.
While they recognised the piece as being inspired by Rembrandt, the lack of a signature suggested a copy.
It was offered at the 2015 auction with an estimate of just $500.
In the end three bidders (all from Germany or France) duked it out for the winning bid of $1.1m.
Research carried out in the aftermath of the sale revealed that the Landaus' grandfather picked it up at an auction in the 1920s. He had never been aware of the true value of what he owned.
This is the fourth painting in the series to remerge.
The final piece, inspired by taste, could well be anywhere.
Perhaps in a dining room near you?
Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about art and photography auctions.
