Fake Rembrandt Sold at Sotheby's Auction for Record Price

Painting whose authenticity is in question

A Saudi prince was quite upset after he learned that a painting he had won at auction for a record bid of 88 million dollars (U.S.) might not be an original. The oil in question, a signed Rembrandt entitled Not Prince, was acquired by Sotheby's from an unknown party in Los Olivos California. A major art dealer in London contacted the Saudi buyer immediately after the auction to inform him that the original was hanging in the Tate Gallery.

Sotheby's Auction president, Guy La Foutre, refused to comment on the apparent forgery but admitted later that he had his brother-in-law look at it last week "...and he thought it was fine."