Rembrandt Research Group

An early painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, recently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and granted the Rembrandt Research Group's stamp of approval, is expected to set an auction record in May. Christie's New York announced on Wednesday that Rembrandt's 1631 painting, "St. Peter in Prison," will be sold by an anonymous collector at a May 31 auction of Old Master paintings. The Park Avenue auction house's preliminary estimate for the work is $10 million to $15 million.

An early painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, recently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and granted the Rembrandt Research Group's stamp of approval, is expected to set an auction record in May. Christie's New York announced on Wednesday that Rembrandt's 1631 painting, "St. Peter in Prison," will be sold by an anonymous collector at a May 31 auction of Old Master paintings. The Park Avenue auction house's preliminary estimate for the work is $10 million to $15 million.

A research panel says about 50 paintings attributed to 17th-Century Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn are works of other artists--including a 1636 portrait in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The Norton Simon Museum acquired the portrait, which the panel attributes to Rembrandt contemporary Carel Fabritius, for about $3.8 million in 1969. If sold as a genuine Rembrandt, the painting would probably bring more than $10 million today.

A painting that the Norton Simon Museum displays as a self-portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn is actually the work of his pupil, Carel Fabritius, according to a panel of experts in Amsterdam. The Simon work is among 39 paintings that have been falsely attributed to the 17th-Century Dutch master, the Rembrandt Research Group announced on Friday.

The fate of Norton Simon's art collection is the most brightly burning issue in Southern California's art scene. Will his $750-million collection of European and Asian art stay in Pasadena in the building that bears his name? Will the museum merge with the J. Paul Getty Museum? Will Simon donate the collection to other museums? Or will he sell the whole thing in the art auction of the century?