Film Forum

The rarefied universe of private owners of Rembrandt paintings (perhaps 37 worldwide) includes the Baron Eric de Rothschild (jovial and candid), the 10th Duke of Buccleuch (charming and remarkably low-key for one of Europe's largest landowners), and, most fascinatingly, Amsterdam's Jan Six. He’s a dashing young art dealer from a family that has owned a plethora of Rembrandts for generations, including a portrait of his ancestor, once a close friend of the artist. Six is obsessed with discovering a new, currently unknown, yet verifiable Rembrandt; de Rothschild is committed to selling two important paintings that grace his bedroom – detonating a cut-throat competition between the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum. Owning Rembrandts is no simple matter. It sets off emotional, financial, and intellectual fireworks, captured by director Oeke Hoogendijk with the same insight and wit she brought to her previous art world opus, THE NEW RIJKSMUSEUM.

THE NETHERLANDS    2019    95 MINS.   IN ENGLISH, DUTCH & FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES    STRAND RELEASING

Presented with support from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund, and the Helen Frankenthaler Endowed Fund for Films on Art.

Virtual Cinema program supported by the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation.

Reviews

“Absorbing...the passionate exchange between the viewer and the artist. Or rather, between the owner and the artist. Includes aristos and dealers, billionaires and restorers, experts and museum directors, all united by their obsession with Rembrandt, and their unquenchable desire to own one. An eloquent piece of filmmaking. Rembrandt’s ability to bring to life two ordinary burghers has the power to enthrall whole countries. This is a fascinating film (that) conveys the furious intensity Rembrandt inspires, at the nexus of passion, power and money.”
– Jan Dalley, Financial Times (UK)

“The super-rich collectors and dealers in Oeke Hoogendijk’s amusing documentary come right out of Rembrandt paintings themselves. Bracing… about high-stakes shenanigans in the art market.”
– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (UK)

“Heart-in-the-mouth viewing.”
– The Telegraph (UK)

“A compelling whodunnit.”
– The Times (UK)