Focus on The Standard Bearer (Rembrandt, 1636) and explain the 2022 acquisition by the Netherlands.
In 2019 the painting has been classified as a national treasure of France, so an export bar was in place for 30 months, while the Louvre tried to raise funds to buy the painting. The museum was unable to do so and waived its right of first refusal for purchase. In December 2021, the Dutch state announced its intention to buy the work for the national collection.As result, the Rothschild family sold the painting to the Netherlands for €175 million in 2022. The Dutch government paid €150 million, while the Rembrandt Association and the Rijksmuseum contributed a total of €25 million. It was bought from the Rothschild family, who had owned it since 1844, via a trust located in the tax haven of the Cook Islands. The Standard Bearer is to tour every province in the Netherlands before going on display at the Rijksmuseum's Gallery of Honour. It was acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic amid media coverage of failing income for the Netherlands' cultural sector. The painting was shown at the Rijksmuseum in 2019 and had attracted the museum's interest since France agreed to let the painting leave the country.The painting wil tour to Fries Museum in Leeuwarden (May 2022), Centraal Museum in Utrecht (June 2022), Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar (July 2022), Drents Museum in Assen (August 2022), Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland in Almere (September 2022), Het Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch (October 2022), Mauritshuis in The Hague (November 2022), Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede (December 2022), Museum Arnhem in Arnhem (January 2023), Zeeuws Museum in Middelburg (February 2023), Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht (March 2023) and Groninger Museum in Groningen (April 2023).
Maastricht Het Noordbrabants Museum Kunstlinie Almere Flevoland Middelburg Den Bosch Museum Arnhem Fries Museum Centraal Museum Mauritshuis Cook Islands COVID-19 pandemic Louvre Rijksmuseum Twenthe Drents Museum Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar The Hague Groninger Museum Standard Rembrandt Groningen Noordbrabants Museum Zeeuws Museum Utrecht Enschede Almere Assen Arnhem Rothschild family Rijksmuseum Bonnefantenmuseum Leeuwarden