Billionaire entrepreneur Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife Daphne Recanati Kaplan are selling Rembrandt's drawing *Young Lion Resting* (circa 1638-42) from their Leiden Collection, one of the world's largest private holdings of 17th-century Dutch art. Sotheby's announced on November 3 that the work will be auctioned during its Old Masters sales in New York on February 4, 2026, with a pre-sale estimate of $15 million to $20 million. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Panthera, a wild-cat conservation organization co-founded by Kaplan and philanthropist Jonathan Ayers, marking the 20th anniversary of the organization's founding.
The sale matters because it could set a new auction record for a Rembrandt drawing, surpassing the current record of $3.7 million set in 2000. It also highlights the intersection of art philanthropy and conservation, as the Kaplans use the high-profile auction to promote Panthera's mission. The drawing's global tour—including stops in Paris, London, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia—underscores the enduring market demand for Old Master works and the strategic marketing power of major auction houses.