- Title: UK: RARE REMBRANDT COPPERPLATE IS FOUND ON BACK OF OIL PAINTING.
- Date: 16th April 1997
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 16, 1997) - (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: EXTERIOR CHRISTIE'S AUCTION ROOMS (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. GV: CHRISTIES' ART EXPERT LIESBETH HEENK WALKS INTO ROOM CARRYING THE PICTURE 0.18 3. MV/CU: THE COPPERPLATE WITH THE PAINTING ON THE FRONT (3 SHOTS) 0.38 4. MV/PAN/CU: PHOTOGRAPH OF AN ORIGINAL PRINT MADE FROM THE REMBRANDT ETCHING (2 SHOTS) 0.53 5. MCU: LIESBETH HEENK SAYING: "I WOULD NEVER ADVISE ANYBODY TO MAKE PRINTS FROM IT BECAUSE YOU WOULD ABSOLUTELY DESTROY THE PAINTING IN THE PROCESS. BUT I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LEAVE IT LIKE THIS BECAUSE ITS AN INTERESTING HISTORIC DOCUMENT. WE HAVE GOT A REMBRANDT WHICH HAS MORE OR LESS BEEN RECYCLED BY A CONTEMPORARY OF HIS WHO USED THE SMOOTH SURFACE OF THE COPPER PLATE TO MAKE A PAINTING OF IT. SO IT'S ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR." (ENGLISH) 1.39 6. MCU: PICTURE AND ETCHING REFLECTED ON BACK OF MIRROR 1.44 7. MV: ETCHING BEING REPLACED INTO PICTURE FRAME 2.01 Initials s.3 - p.3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 1st May 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
- City:
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVA8ZXDQRZWADWP1WLZAA0AU85DM
- Story Text: INTRO: A very rare Rembrandt copperplate has been discovered on the back of an oil painting sold in an antique shop in England's northern county of Yorkshire.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The lost plate, used for making reprints of etchings, was revealed for the first time in 300 years when an art expert took a closer look at the painting by artist Pieter Gysels which had concealed it.
Christie's expert Liesbeth Heenk removed the Gysels oil from its frame to examine it more closely and immediately recognised it as a Rembrandt.
This plate was used for what has been described as one of the most superb of Rembrandt's etchings.
"The fact that Peter Gysels made a landscape on the reverse makes the plate a very exciting historic document," Liesbeth Heenk said.
The plate, of Abraham Entertaining the Angels, was cut in 1656, the year Rembrandt was declared bankrupt and may have been sold in a bid to raise money.
The plate is of particular interest, said Ms Heenk, because it was never re-worked or restored so it reveals the true mastery of Rembrandt's technique.
It is thought Gysels' landscape, painted directly on the copper surface, was painted some time before 1691.
The current owner of the painting, who wishes to remain anonymous, said it was bought in 1946 from an antique shop in Yorkshire.
The picture and plate are to be sold at auction in June and are expected to fetch around 50,000 U.S. dollars.
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