Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be shown around the world ahead of its February 2026 auction. Photo: Sotheby's
Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be shown around the world ahead of its February 2026 auction. Photo: Sotheby's
Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be shown around the world ahead of its February 2026 auction. Photo: Sotheby's
Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be shown around the world ahead of its February 2026 auction. Photo: Sotheby's

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


Razmig Bedirian
  • English
  • Arabic

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.

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.

Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be exhibited in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh prior to its auction in New York. Photo: Sotheby's
Rembrandt's Young Lion Resting will be exhibited in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh prior to its auction in New York. Photo: Sotheby's

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.

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The Bio

Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village

What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft

Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans

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Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Updated: November 04, 2025, 6:07 AM