The summary is that an appraiser doing an estate visit in Maine found a painting in the attic that is attributed to Rembrandt.
Assuming that the article is accurate, the owner (heirs?) put it up for auction and it brought $1.41 million.
However, the article said that "if authenticated, the painting could be worth as much as $15 million".
The article talked about how it's not uncommon for people to believe they found a Rembrandt, only to be proven wrong. So my theory is that the owners (heirs?) sold it for a huge discount because it was a guaranteed $1.41 million. If it was proven to be a fake, maybe it would be worth far less. And conversely, the buyer is taking the chance that it's real and buying it at a bargain, understanding that it hasn't been authenticated.
If this was your painting found in your eccentric dead uncle's attic, what would you do? I'll paint a poll in just a moment. [Reply]
The owner might have some knowledge that would lead them to believe there’s basically no chance it’s real.
It’s costly to get authenticated over seas and it might be one of those things where only a certain group can appraise it so then you risk traveling with it and possible damage.
If I thought it was realistic that it’s real I’d probably wait though. [Reply]
That's a tough one. I'd do everything I could to unofficially find out how likely it is the real deal. If all I could find out is 50/50 I'd take the 1.4 million. Im in no position to turn down that kind of money lol [Reply]
The summary is that an appraiser doing an estate visit in Maine found a painting in the attic that is attributed to Rembrandt.
Assuming that the article is accurate, the owner (heirs?) put it up for auction and it brought $1.41 million.
However, the article said that "if authenticated, the painting could be worth as much as $15 million".
The article talked about how it's not uncommon for people to believe they found a Rembrandt, only to be proven wrong. So my theory is that the owners (heirs?) sold it for a huge discount because it was a guaranteed $1.41 million. If it was proven to be a fake, maybe it would be worth far less. And conversely, the buyer is taking the chance that it's real and buying it at a bargain, understanding that it hasn't been authenticated.
If this was your painting found in your eccentric dead uncle's attic, what would you do? I'll paint a poll in just a moment.
I have some experience in this having a friend who found a Bernard Buffet and believes it could be worth up to $300,000. To get it authenticated he needs to send it to France, however, if they deem it a reproduction, they have the right to destroy it. It is probably similar with the Rembrandt. I may take the $1.41m, as my friend is likely to fetch about $15k without authentication. In his case I would go for it, if I had the Rembrandt, I would sell for that much larger amount. It's like taking the cash out option on a big parlay that you hit 6 of the 7 legs on... [Reply]