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WHEN AN AMERICAN art dealer dropped $15,000 (€12,830) on what he thought was “junk” in a New Jersey storage locker, he never imagined it could be the deal of a lifetime.
But he now believes stashed in the unit were six paintings by Dutch-American abstract master Willem de Kooning, which could be worth millions of dollars.
The auction record for a de Kooning is $66.3 million (€56.7 million), set for large canvas “Untitled XXV” at Christie’s in 2016, while another sold privately for a reported $300 million (€257 million) in 2015.
Another piece of luck, according to New York gallery owner David Killen, is a painting by Swiss modernist Paul Klee that he says was also found in the unit.
The works originally came from the studio of Orrin Riley, a superstar in the art restoration business who died in 1986, leaving everything to his partner, Susanne Schnitzer, who was killed in a traffic accident in 2009.
Her executors – friends in New Jersey – spent years trying to find rightful owners for the art, but no one came forward to claim the 200 pieces languishing in the storage unit, near the Ho-Ho-Kus township.
“Honestly all I knew was (an)other auction house passed on it, so my feeling was it was a bunch of junk,” Killen told AFP by telephone.
“All these things are boxed up. I said, ‘Look, I’ll give you $15,000 for it. I’ll take a chance,’” he said. If nothing else, he thought the items would pad out auctions he holds every two weeks.
It was only once the items were being unloaded that he spotted what he believes to be de Kooning paintings.
‘Blown away’
The work is not signed, but Killen said a restorer based on Long Island, who used to work for both Riley and de Kooning, also believes they are genuine.
“I can see in his eyes, he’s shaking,” Killen told AFP. “He said ‘this is exactly what de Kooning was doing in the ’70s, one after the other’.”
Art conservator Lawrence Castagna says he “absolutely” believes the six oil-on-paper works to be de Koonings, but stressed it was “just my opinion.”
“I’m just blown away by the whole discovery to tell you the truth,” he told AFP.
Castagna said he did “minor repair work” but otherwise the works would be sold as they were found, anticipating significant interest when they go on display for the first time publicly in nearly 35 years.
Killen is hosting a party tomorrow to unveil the paintings, which he believes could fetch anywhere from $10,000 to $10 million when he offers them for auction later this year and next January.
“I’m excited. Believe it or not – and people will laugh when they hear this – it’s not about the money. I want some publicity for my auction house,” he said.
But what would he do with a bonanza cheque? New doors for his gallery and a “really nice apartment”, he replies.
The New York Post first reported the story last weekend. Since then, the telephone has been ringing off the hook, says Killen.
The reaction’s been tremendous.
Can we please stop propagating the lies of the English media? Brexit did the damage, not the protocol.
@James Pelow: Very well said. They’re actually using it as a distraction. And it’s drawing us into something that has nothing to do with us. Brexit is the problem. End of story.
You can’t hold a poll asking people if they think the Protocol is good for Northern Ireland without clarifying what the alternative is.
That’s like asking a child if they think the settlement that their parents agreed to after divorce is good.
Let’s be clear… article 16 does not end the protocol. It can suspend a part of it for a short period of time. When the UK says it will trigger A16, call it out for what they want to do….they want to scrap it and force a border on the island of Ireland or a border between Ireland and EU. That’s their plan and I believe it’s been the plan all along. This mess has been made by the UK and the protocol is a plaster. The GB companies that send those goods that will never end up back in the EU (including ROI) need to be better catered for. The issue is that there is no trust between the UK and EU as, so far, the UK hasn’t implemented main parts of the protocol so all at risk goods must be considered guilty until proven innocent.
Ok theJournal…. Time to correct your headlines… “Is Brexit bad or good for firms in Northern Ireland?”
The protocol is a workaround to the main issue, Brexit..
While I’ve no doubt it has caused some legitimate disruption for businesses heavily linked to GB, how did the study take into account costs (for consultancy etc) that would’ve been incurred without the procotol because they also trade with the EU?
Or how did it take into account all the paperwork NI businesses save because they can trade with the Republic and the rest of the EU freely?
All these analyses seem to assume that trade with Ireland was either insignificant, or its continuity was a a given (neither of these are true) and that any disruption with GB is a cost without any quantifiable benefit (again not true).
It’s not the protocol that’s not working. It’s brexit that’s not working.
How dare the EU break away from the United Kingdom. They’ve made things very difficult for everyone, especially the Brits!
By leaving the CU and SM and going for a Sharia Brexit GB turned itself into a legal and regulatory Kaliningrad. Their call-their choice…If they hadn’t CHOSEN that there would be no protocol. They want a hard border in IRL or IRL out the the EU-they will get neither but what they will get is humiliation.
It is improving trade between north and south.
have your say