Sometimes works of art disappear without a trace. Most often such a fate comprehends the canvases of artists. They fall victim to kidnappers, natural disasters, burned in fires, and are often simply lost, and there is little chance of finding them again. Let's describe those cases when the paintings were waiting for a different fate, although in the minds of people they were considered missing forever.
"The electric cord".
This is the name of the painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein, painted by him in 1961. It was bought for 750 dollars by a certain Leo Castelli - the owner of one of the New York art galleries. Nine years later, the canvas was given to a restorer named Daniel Goldreyer, that he brought it to order. Suddenly he died, and the picture disappeared without a trace. The FBI has been investigating for a long time, but no crime was found in the incident. Daniel died his death, and all the paintings, which were in his workshop, were in place, except for the "Electric cord". It was only in 2009 that the restorer's widow, taking apart one of the lockers, discovered the missing canvas. At first, she did not attach any importance to the discovery, and only after reading its history on the Internet, she called the police. Of course, the widow did not present any rights to the picture, and the prosecutor's office did not press charges against her. The painting was handed over to Barbara Castelli - the heiress of the owner of the art gallery, where originally exhibited "Electric cord". She met the "fugitive" with gratitude and said that the picture will never sell. But, despite the fact that today this canvas is estimated at four million dollars, wishing to buy it are not translated.
Corot in the toilet.
Some time ago, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corotte's "Girlfriend's Portrait" disappeared from a New York art exhibition. The entire New York City police were up and about, but the painting was never found. A couple of months later, it turned out that the "Portrait" all the while he was looking for, hanging ... in the toilet of a doorman of one of the hotels. The man found him in the bushes near his place of work, appreciated the quality of painting in his way, brought him home and hung him on the wall in the bathroom. And only a few weeks later, accidentally seeing a picture on TV, the doorman learned that it costs more than a million dollars, it is wanted by the police and carried his discovery to the station. Why the kidnappers threw Corot's creation into the bushes - it was impossible to find out. All the suspects in this case, of course, were released.
The dead are irrevocably.
But our next story ended in a lot sadder. On October 16, 2012, unknown people robbed the Rotterdam Museum. Pablo Picasso's paintings became their prey. Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Lucien Freud, Meyer de Haan (one painting by each artist) and two paintings by Claude Monet. The total value of the stolen tentatively - 200 million euros.
Traces of robbery led the police to Romania. The mother of one of the suspects after the arrest of her son, just in case, buried the stolen goods in the village cemetery. But after a while, after reflection, she dug everything up and burned it in the furnace. She told the police about it. However, after a while, the woman retracted her testimony. It is not known when she was sincere, but the fact remains that none of the stolen works have yet been found.
The mystical picture that causes fires.
No less interesting are the stories related to the shrouded secrets and riddles of the paintings of famous artists. Thus, it is advised under no circumstances to bring into your home a reproduction of the painting "The Weeping Boy" by the Italian artist Bruno Amadio, best known under the pseudonym of Giovanni Bragolin. Unless you can ensure your home against fire, hang there this mystical copy and move to another place. There is a high probability that the building will burn down like many other houses, where, unfortunately, there were reproductions of this mysterious canvas.
The painting, depicting a ginger, gloomy boy with tears on his cheeks, is surrounded by a real aura of mysticism. There is ample documented evidence that any reproduction of this canvas is "flammable" and ignites wherever it is hung. At the same time, the "Crying Boy" himself for some reason does not burn, remaining often the only object that survived on the ashes. Over the original painting, which has not survived to this day, it is believed that there was such a strong curse that even reproductions cause fires and take human lives.
to be continued in the next part...