REMBRANDTS SOLD FOR £250,000.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18448, 9 January 1922, Page 8

REMBRANDTS SOLD FOR £250,000.

RUSSIAN PRINCE’S THRILLING' LIFE.

An enthralling romance,, in which tragedy and mystery ore interwoven with wealth and poverty, lies behind the sale by Prince Youssouppff of two Rembrandts for close on £250,000 to an Englishman. The story of the. prince's. life to a salade russo of thrills. He. is the .man-who -. removed” Rasputin,. .the'-.- tantoter ■ monk,. who was the self-anointed ruler of- tho Czar s Court and Russia’s destinies. The - • monk s body was recovered : one ‘ - night ' from - the frozen waters of the Neva, and" many of Russia’s millions breathed a prayer of thanks to their saviour. , ~ The prince is the: chosen guardian of jtae Russian refugees of the old regime who found sanctuary in London. and.. other European capitals when broken fortunes and privation replaced their former opulence. The money he has raised by tho sale of the .two Rembrandts to destined 'to. relieve their poverty. -h v , • Prince Youssoupoff, a man of handsome and commanding presence, to the kero of many romances bound up 1 with the .fall of the Romanoff dynasty. He saved a valuable part of the Crown jewelswfrom the wreck of the revolution, including the famous black pearl necklace. It is the longest m the world, and is priced at £BO,OOO. The evil red-green glitter of it has been, the undoing of many who-coveted possession of it. Scarcely a dozen people in London hw of Prince Youssoupoff’a whereabouts at tne moment. Secrecy to essential for the pnnee, not because of the personal enmity oi tno Bolshevists towards him, but because ho and Mb secretary ate known to have buried vast quantities of jewellery in Russia, which they could- not take away in the breathless escape. There it lay till the prince’s resources ran low and the Russian royalists began to starve. ' ' . _ How could they recover it? Pnnee Youasoupoff’s secretary conceived a daring plan. He affected Bolshevism and crossed to Ruseia. Despite suspicion, ho finally wormed 1 his way ..into the inner ring of Lenma advisers. He recovered a great part of the treasure secretly, and one day slipped across the frontier-in disguise. And the Russian refugees hod_ money to buy food again. .