Overview
- The UK government placed a temporary export bar on Rembrandt’s Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet this week, deferring any export decision until 26 December 2026 to give domestic buyers priority time to act.
- Officials set a recommended purchase price of £71,696,324.90 plus VAT and said owners will have 15 business days after the deferral to consider any offer at that price.
- The Reviewing Committee advised the bar after ruling the painting met all three Waverley criteria, citing its long UK provenance, exceptional late-Rembrandt quality, and value for study of 17th-century social, gender and religious history.
- The work has been in Britain since the mid-18th century, was sold privately via Christie’s in 2025, and previously faced an export review in 2015 when it was later loaned to National Museum Wales.
- Museums now face the practical challenge of raising a record sum, a task that will test public acquisition budgets and likely require major philanthropic support or an Option Agreement that could extend the buying window by nine months.