Dutch Delights

Self Portrait with Shaded Eyes, by Rembrandt van Rijn.[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Works from the Leiden Collection made their China debut on Friday. The 74 old master paintings are on show at the National Museum of China in Beijing through September. Lin Qi reports.

Thomas Kaplan says he has never "lived" with any of the 250 paintings from his collection. The 54-year-old entrepreneur and investor from the United States, along with his wife, Daphne, have since 2003 put together one of the largest collections of 17th-century Dutch paintings in private hands.

They call it the Leiden Collection, after the city where many featured master painters were based, including Rembrandt van Rijn.

Kaplan says he has never seen his entire collection together. So, when he viewed an exhibition showcasing 30 of his paintings at the Louvre in February, he was "shocked".

"People said you must be very proud(of the collection). I said pride has nothing to do with it. I didn't paint them."

Also shocked were visitors, although they had seen many of the paintings at museums before.

The Kaplans have "enjoyed" anonymity for the past 13 years while lending their paintings to 40 museums.

"In addition to being one of the most aggressive buyers of old masters, we've also been a lending library in Dutch art," says Kaplan.

"The concept of sharing the collection has been part of our philosophy from the first day."