“Nice pictures” turn out to be collection of Rembrandt etchings

A woman from Zutphen in Gelderland who inherited a collection of “nice pictures” turns out to be the owner of 35 small etchings by Rembrandt, local broadcaster Omroep Gelderland reported.

Charlotte Meyer’s grandfather collected the etchings between 1900 and 1920. “No one was interested in etchings in those days,” she told the broadcaster. “He got 35 of them for a couple of guilders. My grandmother didn’t care much for them. They were kept but no one expected much from them.”

When she inherited the folder containing the etchings, Meyer left them in a drawer for years. During the coronavirus crisis, she studied them a bit closer and started to think that the tiny etchings were more than just pretty pictures.

When she contacted experts from the Rembrandthuis, they were “very kind but you could tell they thought, ‘there’s another one who thinks they’ve got a Rembrandt’,” she said.

But a visit to her home quickly changed their minds, Meyer said. “They were blown away. ‘Charlotte, you don’t know what you’ve got here’, they said. And I thought ‘wow, I bet they are worth a bit’”.

According to the experts, the etchings show themes that were important to him at the time, including his younger years, ups-and-downs in his career, mourning for the loss of his family and his life in poverty.

Meyer, who did not say how much the collection was valued at, said the money didn’t really interest her. Since her discovery, she has bought more etchings by Rembrandt and his contemporaries. “I have been buying works from across Europe. It’s a tricky business because there are lots of good fakes around. But I’m not falling for them, just like my granddad,” she said.

The etchings, now 70 in total,  will be on show at the Stedelijk Museum in Zutphen from March 21 to June 14.