In 2003, a woman found a stolen painting worth $1 million in the trash on a NYC curb. She felt it “had power” and took it without knowing its origin or value. She spent 4 years researching it and discovered it’d been stolen in 1987. She got a $15,000 reward plus a % of its $1,049,000 sale price.
paintings
Serbian artist Uroš Predić…
Serbian artist Uroš Predić made a painting of drunks in his village returning home from the pub at dawn. He hoped the painting would convince them to change their ways but instead they ended up loving it. Some even complimented how accurate it was.
The painting “The Scream”…
The painting “The Scream” was painted with a red sky accurately depicting the Norwegian sky at the time caused by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia.
After a woman died, a multimillion…
After a woman died, a multimillion dollar painting she owned was re-assessed at $0 due to it containing part of a bald eagle. In America, it is illegal to buy or sell them without a permit. The IRS disagreed and put a $65M tax on it. But her heirs cannot sell the painting due to the eagle.
The models for the famous painting ‘American Gothic’ were not…
The models for the famous painting ‘American Gothic’ were not husband and wife, or father and daughter. The pair were the painter’s sister and his dentist.
President Roosevelt collapsed while being painted. He never…
President Roosevelt collapsed while being painted. He never regained consciousness before dying. The unfinished painting captures his last waking moment.
The painter Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to look…
The painter Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to look at the unfinished work while Michelangelo was gone, and upon seeing the paintings, went back to a completed painting of his own at the Church of Sant’Agostino, scraped it off the wall, and started completely over.
Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings, would scream if a…
Congo, a chimpanzee who made over 400 paintings, would scream if a painting was taken away from him before he was finished.
Salvador Dali made a painting for the prisoners at Rikers Island in NYC that…
Salvador Dali made a painting for the prisoners at Rikers Island in NYC that hung in the prisoner dining room for 15 years, when it was moved to the prison lobby for ‘safekeeping’. In 2003, three prison guards and a warden stole the painting.
Most of the paintings by Adolf Hitler, which he painted in his youth and sold to…
Most of the paintings by Adolf Hitler, which he painted in his youth and sold to a glazier ’s store during his Vienna years, were bought by Jewish customers.