'Remarkable' Rembrandt Portrait Found in Maine Attic During 'Routine House Call' Sells for $1.4M

Mar. 15, 2025

Kaja Veilleux at the podium having just sold Lot 2363, After Rembrandt, for $1.4 million.Photo:Thomaston Place Auction Galleries

Thomaston Place Auction Galleries

A rare portrait found in an attic recently sold for $1.4 million at auction.

“On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” Veilleux said in a statement. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces, but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.”

After Rembrandt, sold for $1.4 million.Thomaston Place Auction Galleries

Their statement noted that a label on the frame proved it was the work of Rembrandt, and that it had been “previously loaned to an exhibition in 1970 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art."

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“It was amazing,” said Zebulon Casperson, who represented the winning bidder, identified only as a private European collector.

“Out of all the phone bids I’ve handled, I never imagined I’d help close a deal for over a million dollars. It feels like a shared victory,” added Casperson.

The sale is believed to have “set a new record for the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction in Maine,” per the auction house.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Veilleux says, “This is a prime example of the remarkable treasures that can be uncovered through house calls in New England.”

source: people.com