Antiques & collecting

ABOVE, FROM LEFT The Three Trees, 1643, by Rembrandt is described as a superb early impression and was once in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (est £300,000–£500,000); Rembrandt’s Woman Sitting Half-Dressed Beside a Stove, 1658, is a very fine impression of this rare print (est £120,000–£180,000).

Christie’s

The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn

7th December, Christie’s London

One of the greatest collectors of his generation, Sam Josefowitz was born into a middle-class family in Lithuania in 1921, before settling in Switzerland. As storm clouds gathered over Europe in 1938, he went to the USA to study industrial engineering and, after the war, founded the Concert Hall Society with his brother. The music subscription service became one of America’s biggest record clubs, and much of the fortune that Josefowitz made from selling classical and jazz recordings was funneled into his art collection. He began with paintings of the Pont-Aven School, including works by Gauguin, Caillebotte and Signac; then, in the 1960s, after meeting art dealer Ira Gale, he began collecting Old Master prints in impressions of the highest quality, by Dürer, Mantegna and Goya. His favourite artist, Rembrandt, executed some 300 prints between 1626 to 1661, using engraving, etching and drypoint techniques, and Josefowitz’s collection of Rembrandt prints was unrivalled – a reference point for collectors, scholars and curators al