£6m painting that was swapped for a sailor's greatcoat

[emad]

Telegraph
By Will Bennett in New York
(Filed: 05/11/2004)

A painting acquired by a young officer when he swapped his overcoat for it during the Second World War has become one of the greatest art bargains in history, fetching almost £6.4 million at a Christie's auction.

Nathan Halpern was sent to Paris by the US Navy after the French capital was liberated by the Allies in 1944. He met an art dealer called Pierre Loeb who represented the Spanish artist Joan Miro, and agreed to exchange one of the latter's paintings for Halpern's naval issue greatcoat.

The American was given The Caress of the Stars, an abstract expressing Miro's support for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Halpern later made a fortune from telecommunications and spent some of his newfound wealth on building up a substantial art collection.

Experts on the Spanish abstract painter, who was influenced by his compatriot Picasso and also by the Surrealist movement, were unaware of the existence of The Caress of the Stars until after Halpern's death in April.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/05/nart05.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/11/05/ixhome.html

[jdots]

1. Such a deal Bubby !

Now Miro couldn't even get the coat.The art is allways out there,it just seems like know one wants it right now.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. Yeah, um, okay... that's his story and he is sticking to it, I guess

No looting ever happened in that war.
:think: