Be careful not to throw out the Rembrandt!
Some guy was walking along a street in New York the other day when he saw a pile of junk lying on the sidewalk. He saw the corner of a picture frame peeping out and paused to take a closer look. He got the shock of his life. An art enthusiast, he recognized the painting as the work of a well known artist who lived a long time ago. He pulled it out and took another look to make sure he was right and then pulled everything out of the dustbin.
He found other works by the same artist and paintings and sketches by other artists as well. He grabbed everything and raced all the way to a gallery which belongs to a friend. The two of them pored over the pictures and confirmed his thoughts. The artists lived about a hundred years ago and were all well-known in their time and in later years by collectors. None of them are considered 'old masters', but their works hang in galleries and museums.
He rushed back to the dustbin and raced into the building. He questioned the janitor. It seems that an old man had died there a couple of months ago and t
he apartment had been standing empty since. A week ago a young woman had arrived and shown him letters and title deeds confirming that she was a grand-daughter of the old man and had inherited his apartment.
She planned to move in and had started the operation by cleaning the place out. This included a great deal of 'throwing out the junk'. Painters were expected to come in the next day and give the walls a couple of coats of apricot.
It's clear what happened. The old man had probably acquired the paintings a long time ago, probably for next to nothing, from known but minor artists. He framed them and hung them on his walls and one hopes that he enjoyed them. The old man, and by all accounts he was at least 90 when he died, never told anyone about his paintings or their artists, or perhaps he himself never bothered to find out if the paintings had any value. Granddaughter arrives, takes one look at the dusty pictures and consigns them to the trash without a second glance or second thought.
The finder has put these works of art on an auction to be held soon and expects to raise a few thousand dollars.
He found other works by the same artist and paintings and sketches by other artists as well. He grabbed everything and raced all the way to a gallery which belongs to a friend. The two of them pored over the pictures and confirmed his thoughts. The artists lived about a hundred years ago and were all well-known in their time and in later years by collectors. None of them are considered 'old masters', but their works hang in galleries and museums.
He rushed back to the dustbin and raced into the building. He questioned the janitor. It seems that an old man had died there a couple of months ago and t
She planned to move in and had started the operation by cleaning the place out. This included a great deal of 'throwing out the junk'. Painters were expected to come in the next day and give the walls a couple of coats of apricot.
It's clear what happened. The old man had probably acquired the paintings a long time ago, probably for next to nothing, from known but minor artists. He framed them and hung them on his walls and one hopes that he enjoyed them. The old man, and by all accounts he was at least 90 when he died, never told anyone about his paintings or their artists, or perhaps he himself never bothered to find out if the paintings had any value. Granddaughter arrives, takes one look at the dusty pictures and consigns them to the trash without a second glance or second thought.
The finder has put these works of art on an auction to be held soon and expects to raise a few thousand dollars.
Tags & Keywords : Art, collectors,
Share this article:
Comments
|
||
|
||
