Man Sells Garage Sale Painting for $1M

[windansea]

NEW YORK (AP) - A man who paid $5 for a 19th-century painting he bought at a garage sale has sold it to a museum for $1 million, an art publication reported.

The unidentified 29-year-old actor found Joseph Decker's "Ripening Pears" wrapped in a blanket at a Los Angeles garage sale three years ago, the report in ARTnewsletter said.

The woman who sold him the painting said it had been sitting in her garage for more than 60 years, the publication said. Decker painted it around 1884 or 1885.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., bought the painting in February for $1 million, said Meredith E. Ward, who served as the man's broker.

more...

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=175737&nid=25

[Robb]

1. "Ja, ja!!"

"Vee fount it just sitting zere on ze ground!" :)

[DoNotRefill]

3. Ummmm....if it was Nazi loot....

the heirs of the people who had it stolen from them can recover it. I'm sure the Museum checked that angle out before plunking down a million bucks on it.

Believe it or not, not EVERY piece of artwork on the planet was stolen by the Nazis...

[slappypan]

4. the wager

"Ten bucks says I can turn any DU thread into a discussion about Hitler."

"Any thread? No way."

"Yes way."

"Oh, really? What about ... this one here?"

"Bring it on!"

[slappypan]

2. Joseph Decker

Was not familiar with this artist so I looked him up:

"A creator of still life in the 1880s and 1890s, Joseph Decker painted in both hard-edged and soft styles that conveyed sentimentality and included subjects that ranged from fruit still lifes to his pet squirrel. He was first known for his harsh paintings that were full of vibrating color, but his later works were more misty, soft, and conventional. ...

One of the most interesting artists this country has ever produced, Joseph Decker lived on the periphery of the Brooklyn art world in the 1880's and 1890's as a still life painter. He was born the son of a carpenter in Wurttemburg, Germany. In 1867, he traveled to the United States where he first took up residency in Reading, Pennsylvania. He soon settled permanently in Brooklyn. "

[ugarte]

5. Unlike my luck. I bought a painting for $1 million

and sold it for $5.