Priceless works of art sold for pennies

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Perhaps everyone has heard the story that people bought "pretty pictures" and other trinkets at flea markets for next to nothing, and then it turned out that they had acquired world masterpieces valued at millions of dollars. This review contains real works of art, which at one time were acquired for mere pennies.

Auguste Renoir "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine"

In 2009, a resident of Virginia (USA) bought several plastic figurines and a painting at a flea market for $ 7. According to the girl, she was more attracted not by the picture, but by the beautiful frame. Already at home, she saw a plate with the name of the famous artist Auguste Renoir in the painting. At the insistence of her mother, the girl took the purchase to the auction house, and there they confirmed the authenticity of the impressionist painting. "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine" by Auguste Renoir was estimated at 75 thousand dollars.

The joy of finding the hostess was replaced by chagrin, because the painting could not be sold. It turns out that the canvas was stolen. In 1926, it was acquired by the American collector Herbert May, then the painting was exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art. From there, in 1951, she was kidnapped. At the end of 2014, the canvas was returned to the museum.

Paul Gauguin "When is the wedding?"

Paul Gauguin was one of the most prominent representatives of Post-Impressionism. Unfortunately, during the artist's lifetime, his paintings were not in demand. Gauguin was very poor. He wrote to his friends that he had nothing to buy a piece of bread for, he had to eat only water and fruits, which grew everywhere in Tahiti.

In 1892, while living on the island, Gauguin painted the painting "When is the wedding?" After the artist's death, it fell into the hands of private collectors for almost nothing, but ironically, it became the most expensive painting in the world. In 2015, the painting was acquired by the Qatar Museum Department for a record $ 300 million.

Faberge egg

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks sold abroad works of art, paintings, icons, and jewelry that belonged to the royal family for almost nothing. The same fate befell 36 precious eggs made by the jeweler Carl Faberge.

The fate of one of these eggs, long considered lost, is simply amazing. Once an American metal dealer bought a gold piece for $ 14,000 and planned to resell it for $ 15,000 to get "quick" money. However, there were no buyers. Then the owner decided to melt the piece of jewelry, but finally he looked on the Internet and entered the keywords into the search: "egg", "Vacheron & Constantin" (the inscription on the clockwork inside the egg). He found an article in the British newspaper The Telegraph about Faberge eggs. In one of the photographs, the American saw a piece of jewelry similar to his purchase.

The merchant on the next flight went to London to the director of the Wartski antique gallery, Kyren McCarthy, and showed him a photo of his egg. The antiquary came to the American's home and saw an egg on the table between the sugar bowl and the pie. When McCarthy said that the find was real, the merchant passed out.

The pedestal of the jewelry is decorated with gold wreaths, blue sapphires, miniature bows with diamonds. Inside it is a ladies' watch with gold hands. It was this egg that Alexander III presented to Maria Feodorovna for Easter in 1887.

According to the antiquarian, the American received so much money for the Faberge egg that "it turned his whole life upside down."And the gold piece was bought by a private collector for $ 33 million.

The wedding crown of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Touching upon the theme of the deplorable fate that befell the jewels of the imperial family after the revolution, one cannot but mention the wedding crown of Alexandra Feodorovna "Russian Beauty", decorated with 1535 old-cut diamonds. In November 1926, the Bolsheviks began selling crown diamonds literally by kilograms. The tiara went under the hammer for mere pennies - only 310 pounds. Needless to say, the real price of the jewelry is in the millions of dollars.

U. S. Declaration of Independence

In 1989, at a flea market in Pennsylvania (USA), a man for $ 4 is the most interesting artifact - the United States Declaration of Independence in a frame. Over time, it turned out that this was not a copy, but an original. It is known that on the night of July 4, 1776, 200 copies of the Declaration were made, of which only 25 have survived to this day. The found document was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 1990 for $ 2.45 million.

Sotheby's is considered the world's oldest auction house. Priceless works of art are put up for auction there. These 10 sculptures that went under the hammer are considered the most expensive in the world.