Owning a Rembrandt is one of the most prestigious attainments for art collectors and this must have been a source of excitement for the art advisors at the University of Pretoria in South Africa when a coveted painting by the Dutch master was donated to the academic institution in 1976 — only that their joy has now been shown to be misplaced.

In the late 1950s, 'The Portrait of an Old Man', a small oil painting on a wood panel depicting the profile of an old man in a hat and cloak, was brought to South Africa as part of a collection owned by Dutch businessman, JA van Tilburg, who emigrated to the country. This painting had over the decades been attributed to the Dutch Golden Age master painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1588-1672) due to its good provenance score.

In 1976, this painting was donated to the University of Pretoria with the belief that it is an authentic Rembrandt, until recently.

Enter Gerard de Kamper and Isabelle McGinn 

Two lecturers at the University of Pretoria, Gerard de Kamper, chief curator of collections and PhD candidate and Isabelle McGinn,  a conservator, embarked on a mission to prove the authenticity of the painting after a research carried out in the Netherlands in 2015-2016 showed that the painting’s provenance to the Warneck Collection – an important private art collection in Paris to which The Portrait of an Old Man had been described in the book by Cornelius Hofstede de Groot to be a part of – was in fact incorrect.

After multiple stages of authentication tests carried out by the duo of researchers from the University of Pretoria, the result showed that the painting couldn't have been created before 1850 when barium sulphate was introduced in the world (large quantities of barium sulphate were found in an x-ray fluorescence scan of the painting's layers, and mining of barium sulphate was only possible from the 1850s onwards). And from historical accounts, Rembrandt died some 178 years before, thus, it couldn't have been created by him.

In a comprehensive essay published by de Kamper and McGinn, they detailed their methodology, the obstacles they faced and the phases of authentication they undertook. 

On navigating the challenges of having local tools to carry out a comprehensive test of authentication, they wrote:

Technical art analysis is not widely available in South Africa and there were challenges in taking the painting to Europe to be authenticated. The solution was to start developing local expertise. This included learning to use and understand techniques such as X-ray fluorescence, ultraviolet light and infrared photography to inspect the painting.

Using cutting edge technology we searched for fresh evidence about the painting’s authenticity.

In the end, the duo concluded that The Portrait of an Old Man couldn't have been painted by Rembrandt and thus, the painting remains unattributed.

Many art collections dot private and public organizations and institutions across Africa whose authenticity could be questionable, you wouldn't make a business decision without consulting with experts so why dive into investing in art without meeting the experts at Aworanka to guide you in that huge procurement. 

Aworanka is a proven authority on African art and art galleries and the Aworanka art advisory is all you need when thinking of procuring African art for your personal collection or as an organization.