Stolen Art DealerA young lion lying down, seen in three-quarter profile, drawn in loose black chalk with grey wash and white heightening on brown paper, with the head and gaze carefully worked.
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Catalogue No. 1952 · Sotheby's · New York
Young Lion Resting
About $18.4 million in today’s money: 210 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
- Title
- Young Lion Resting
- Date
- c.1638-42
- Medium
- Black chalk and gray wash, heightened with white, on paper washed light brown
- Size
- 11.5 x 15 cm (4 1/2 x 5 7/8 in.)
Rembrandt drew Young Lion Resting around 1638 to 1642, in black chalk and grey wash with white highlights, on paper tinted light brown. The sheet is small, 11.5 by 15 centimetres. A young lion lies in three-quarter profile, drawn in loose strokes, with the head and gaze worked with more care.
The drawing belonged to Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810) of Paris, and to Robert Lebel, also of Paris, by 1968. In 2000 it was with Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox and Artemis Fine Art. Otto Naumann Ltd. of New York had it in 2005, and The Leiden Collection acquired it from that firm.
Sotheby's sold it in New York on 4 February 2026, as lot 201 in the sale Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries, for $17.86 million with buyer's premium. The estimate was $15 million to $20 million. The Art Newspaper puts the hammer price at $15 million. The Art Newspaper and ARTnews both say this is the most paid at auction for any Rembrandt drawing, above the previous record of $3.7 million set in 2000.
The sale
- Auction house
- Sotheby's, New York
- Date
- 4 February 2026
- Lot
- 201
- Estimate
- $15,000,000-20,000,000
- Sold for
- $17.9 million (including buyer’s premium) · $17,860,000
- Record
- Highest auction price for a drawing by Rembrandt; previous record $3.7 million (2000) (The Art Newspaper and ARTnews say so) (as of February 2026)
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Provenance
undated
Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810), Paris
by 1968
Robert Lebel (1901-86), Paris, by 1968
2000
with Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, and Artemis Fine Art, London/New York, 2000
2005
with Otto Naumann Ltd., New York, 2005, from whom acquired by the present owner [The Leiden Collection]
Sources
- Sotheby's lot page: Rembrandt, Young Lion Resting, Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries, lot 201
- Sotheby's sale highlights: Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries (lot 201 sold 17,860,000 USD)
- The Art Newspaper: Artemisia Gentileschi, Michelangelo and Rembrandt bring new energy and records to New York's Old Masters sales (6 February 2026)
- The Leiden Collection catalogue: Young Lion Resting (RR-100), 2023 version
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.