An upstate New York farm turned out to be home to an invaluable historical treasure. The shed did not contain a chest of gold or a pile of rubies. However, the million dollar masterpiece it contained was a nearly three feet tall painting. That’s not it. It came with hints of bird poop. The work of art, found in a neglected condition, depicted a naked older man seated on a stool, with his beard flowing till his chest. The person who originally bought the painting paid $600 (around Rs 49,000). The owner who has it now bought it from a Sotheby’s auction for over $3 million (approx. Rs 24 crore). What makes this work so expensive?
The painting dates back to the 17th century when renowned Belgian painter Anthony van Dyck gave it form. This painting is a figure study– a painting of the human body made to prepare for more finished work. It is only one of van Dyck’s two studies on such a scale. What adds immensely to the value of this live study is that it was made in preparation for one of van Dyck’s most famous works- St Jerome With An Angel.
According to The Times, Albert Roberts, a part-time collector and treasure hunter, bought the painting for $600 in 2002 from a farm in Kinderhook, New York, suspecting it to be a Dutch work of some vintage. He added this to his “orphanage for abandoned art". The painting remained with him for several years before he finally looked into its origins. When Susan Barnes, an art historian and specialist on van Dyck, examined the painting, she called it “surprisingly well-preserved", despite the bird droppings on the backside of the large canvas.
Roberts’ estate offered the artwork to Sotheby’s– one of the world’s largest brokers of fine and decorative art. It was sold for $3.1 million as part of the auction house’s ‘Master Paintings Part I’ sale on Thursday, January 26. CNN reported that the sale included works by Agnolo Bronzino, Titian, and Melchior d’Hondecoeter, too. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Albert B. Roberts Foundation Inc. This organisation offers financial support to artists and other charities.
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