The Missing Rembrandt
October 15 2014
Picture: Six Collection
There's a missing picture in the National Gallery's 'Late Rembrandt' show. The catalogue calls Rembrandt's 'Portrait of Jan Six' (one of the finest he ever painted, I reckon) 'Catalogue Number 101'. But it isn't there. The catalogue states 'loan decision pending'. I wonder what happened. It's privately owned, by the Six family. In my experience, private owners are usually the most straightforward to deal with (except on this occasion).
Update - a reader writes:
How young you are! In 1984, Christopher White, one of the most distinguished scholars of Rembrandt, was refused permission by the owners of the portrait of Jan Six even to reproduce the painting in his Thames & Hudson monograph on Rembrandt. 30 years later, the trustees have probably changed, but their [...] unwillingness to lend the portrait to the National Gallery cannot therefore have been unexpected.
