Buyer of mysterious $9m Rembrandt painting revealed
Thomas Kaplan’s Leiden Collection acquired St John on Patmos at Sotheby’s, the 18th work by the Dutch master to enter the collection
Thomas Kaplan, the New York-based owner of the Leiden Collection, has been identified as the buyer of a major Rembrandt painting, St John on Patmos. The artwork, which sold for £6.75m ($9m) at Sotheby’s last December, makes it the 18th painting by Rembrandt in Kaplan’s collection over the past two decades. Kaplan’s purchase of the painting is driven by his desire to preserve and return the artwork to the public domain, enhancing the core narrative of his collection.
The painting, which was last exhibited in 1923 and had been hidden from sight for over a century, was recently identified as a depiction of St John at Patmos through cleaning and conservation.
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