Rare Rembrandt lion drawing to be displayed in Abu Dhabi ahead of New York auction

The only depiction of a lion by Rembrandt not held by a museum will go under the hammer next year and is expected to fetch millions of dollars.

The work is to be displayed in Abu Dhabi in December as part of a world tour that will conclude with the auction at Sotheby’s New York.

Rembrandt had an evident fascination with lions. Of the six known drawings the Dutch master produced of the fierce felines, two are in the collection of the British Museum, with three more pen-and-wash works housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam; and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

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Young Lion Resting is the only work that is in a private collection, making it an exceptionally coveted piece. Paw on paw and gazing solemnly ahead, the lion in the work is perhaps Rembrandt’s most expressive of the series and communicates the majestic yet restrained strength of its subject.

The drawing was part of the esteemed Leiden Collection, acquired by Thomas S Kaplan in 2005 as his first work by Rembrandt. The collection has since become one of the most impressive private acquisitions of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art.

Now, Young Lion Resting is entering the market to benefit a charity founded by Kaplan in 2006. Proceeds from the sale of the drawing, estimated to fetch between $15 and $20 million, will go towards Panthera, a wild cat conservation charity. The organisation is active in the Middle East, most notably through the Global Alliance for Wild Cats – an initiative founded in 2014 under the auspices of President Sheikh Mohamed.

Young Lion Resting will be displayed in several cities around the world before its auction in February. It is currently at Sotheby’s Paris and will be displayed in the New York and London branches of the auction house before arriving in Abu Dhabi.

The drawing will be part of an art exhibition at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. The exhibition will run between December 2 and 6, as part of Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week. It will then head to Hong Kong before being exhibited in Riyadh between January 24 and 26.