Paintings worth millions that were found in ordinary homes
When buying a house that has been owned by other occupants, you may at times stumble upon some of the previous owner’s possessions. But it would be extremely unlikely for you to find something that is worth money, let alone millions, because who in their right mind would leave something like that behind? Yet, in some unusual circumstances, incredibly rare artefacts can lie around for years, being passed down from one home owner to the next, without their existence or true value being noted.
Earlier this year, a painting found in the attic of a house in south-west France two years ago was attributed to Italian master Caravaggio by French art expert, Eric Turquin, who now hails its discovery as a great event in the history of art.
“A painter is like us, he has tics, and you have all the tics of Caravaggio in this. Not all of them, but many of them – enough to be sure that this is the hand, this is the writing of this great artist,” Turquin told Reuters TV.
The work, which depicts Biblical heroine Judith beheading an Assyrian general, was found by the owners who had no idea about the painting until they went to the top of the house to check a leak in the roof.
“They had to go through the attic and break a door which they had never opened. They broke the door and behind it was that picture. It’s really incredible,” Turquin said.
The painting is thought to have been painted in Rome in 1604-1605 by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, and is “in exceptionally good condition”, according to Turquin, “despite having been forgotten in the attic for probably more than 150 years.”
It has been reported the painting could be worth €120 million ($A186 million).
Art expert Eric Turquin during the painting’s presentation in Paris. Photo: Getty, Patrick Kovarik
In 2014, a retired car engineer found out that two paintings he purchased for 45,000 Italian lira ($A35) at a lost and found auction, were worth much more than he could have ever imagined.
The paintings hung in his kitchen for 44 years before his son questioned whether the paintings were worth anything, after realising the resemblance to other Post-Impressionist works by the French painter Gauguin. The man’s son was right. The paintings turned out to be stolen works by Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard. The two paintings had been stolen from the British aristocrat Sir Mark Kennedy in 1970, but no trace of them had been found.
The man in question remains the legal owner of the paintings, as he purchased the items at a legitimate sale and was unaware of them having been stolen.
The Gauguin painting, Fruits sur une Table ou Nature au Petit Chien, is the most valuable of the pair, and alone is worth an estimated $41 million.
The stolen works by Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard side by side. Photo: Getty, Andreas Solaro
In 2010, a 91-year-old French actress and socialite, Madame de Florian, passed away in the south of France. Her family were shocked when they discovered a secret apartment she owned in Paris, which she had lived in before the Second World War.
The apartment had been untouched for more than 70 years. Among many treasures, such as a full-sized taxidermy ostrich and an original Disney Mickey Mouse doll, a painting of Madame de Florian’s grandmother, Marthe, was found. As it turns out, Marthe was the muse of the famous 19th century artist Giovanni Boldini.
The painting went to auction with an asking price of €253,000 ($A392,000), and sold for €2.1 million ($A3.2 million) when 10 bidders went head-to-head. “It was a magic moment. One could see that the buyer loved the painting; he paid the price of passion,” art specialist Marc Ottav told London’s Telegraph. “It was the highest price ever paid for one of Boldini’s works.”
Inside Madame de Florian’s secret apartment. Photo: Getty Images
Also in 2010, Martin Kober, a retired US Air Force Lieutenant from New York, discovered a priceless painting that had been tucked away in his home for many years.
The painting had been brought to America by a German baroness, but for some reason it was never sold, which resulted in it being passed down from family to family, before it ended up with the Kobers. It hung above their fireplace and the family had nicknamed it “The Mike”, jokingly referring to it as a Michelangelo. At one point, Mr Kober had even stored the work behind a couch for 25 years, after accidentally knocking it off the wall while dusting its frame.
However, after finally deciding to have the painting valued, Kober was shocked to hear the true value of the incredibly rare easel painting by Michelangelo. Experts were able examine the layers of the painting to reveal changes the painter had made to it, proving it was indeed an original, rather than a copy. However, some art history experts remain skeptical about ‘The Mike’s’ authenticity.
The work titled “Ragusa Pieta” is thought to have been painted by Michelangelo. Photo: Michelangelo Gallery
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