Art in the Trash
October 25th, 2007 by Anindita Sengupta
Next time you walk down the street, take a closer look at the trash cans. You never know what you may find! This woman found a genuine masterpiece by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The painting, which had been stolen in 1987, turned up in the trash on a Manhattan street four years ago. Instinctively knowing that there was something magnificent about the painting, Elizabeth Gibson took it home and started a search to find out the real story behind the painting.
I think it’s fabulous that she was observant enough to notice the painting, gutsy enough to pick it out of a trash can and take it home and then persevering enough to hunt out the truth. From the report:
Something about the painting pulled her in, Gibson said, and she took it home and put it on a wall.
“It is huge and it’s very brilliant coloured, very abstract, but you can make out three figures and it’s just very powerful, it’s overwhelming,” she said.
The 1970 painting is titled Tres Personajes and other works by its painter, Tamayo, have soared in value in recent years.
Tamayo’s paintings do have a very strong, almost overwhelming presence. You can view some of them here. The painting will now fetch $ 1 million at an auction.
This also reminds me of the two Edvard Munch paintings that were found last year: The Scream and Madonna. The Scream is considered one of Norwegian artists Munch’s most important works. The motives for the theft aroused much speculation that time around, primarily because the painting had clearly suffered a great deal of neglect. From a Guardian article:
Looking at The Scream now, it is shockingly clear that the damage was caused by carelessness and neglect. A huge watery stain, like a watermark on a tea bag, seeps over its bottom left-hand corner, on the walkway and even on the lower part of the figure. Pigment has dissolved or been washed away.
Why would anyone let that happen? It had to be because the painting didn’t interest them at all. Neither in the drag racer’s bus nor wherever it went after that did anyone even bother to look at The Scream. It was wrapped in a damp blanket and forgotten about.
In this case also, the thief was obviously careless enough to let the painting end up in a trash can. It’s heartbreaking, really.
Art theft is a major category of international crime. Selling a masterpiece in the open market is difficult but it can be used to extort rewards or ransom or as currency in the underworld. There can be other more twisted reasons. Such as the desire to steal cultural property or sheer bravado. This article explores the different motives in detail.
Here is a chronicle of the world’s most wanted art. At the top of the list is a Johannes Vermeer masterpiece taken during the notorious Gardner museum heist of 1990. Some of the biggest heists are still unsolved which means there’s a lot of stolen art floating around out there. One can only hope that in time the lost paintings will find their way back to where they belong. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled.