Una mujer adquirió por sólo siete dólares una pintura de Renoir en una feria de las pulgas en Estados Unidos

Obra de Renoir es vendida por siete dólares en una feria de las pulgas

Una mujer compró la pieza porque le interesaba utilizar el marco. Especialistas le informaron luego que se trataba de una pintura millonaria.

La pieza será subastada a fines de septiembre.

Foto: Archivo El Mercurio.

 

Emol DPA Lunes, 10 de Septiembre de 2012, 09:52

 

NUEVA YORK.- Una mujer adquirió por sólo siete dólares una pintura de Renoir en una feria de las pulgas en Estados Unidos, sin saber que se trataba de una pieza del autor impresionista.

La compradora pagó por la obra para utilizar el marco en el que venía, pero cuando iba a hacerlo, su madre le aconsejó que primero dejara que la vieran unos expertos. Así, la llevó a una casa de subastas, donde fue identificada como "Paisaje a orillas del Sena", de Renoir.

Los especialistas determinaron que el valor real de la pieza es de cien mil dólares.

La afortunada, que vive en el estado de Virginia, pagó siete dólares por una bolsa en la que se ofrecían el lienzo y una muñeca, informan medios estadounidenses.

Se desconoce quién era el vendedor y cómo el cuadro acabó en un mercado de Virginia. A finales de septiembre, el lienzo será subastado.

Renoir painting found at W.Va flea market

 

By BRETT ZONGKER | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago

 

• Enlarge Photo 
• Associated Press/Potomack Company - This image released by Potomack Company shows an apparently original painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir that was acquired by a woman from Virginia who …more stopped at a flea market in West Virginia and paid $7 for a box of trinkets that included the painting. Anne Norton Craner, fine arts director for the Potomack Co. auction house in Alexandria, Va., says the woman made an appointment in July to see if it might be real. Craner says the painting was verified through a close look at the colors and brushwork along with the help of the French publisher of a catalog of Renoir's work. Craner said the painting is "Paysage Bords de Seine." (AP Photo/Potomack Company) less

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman who paid $7 for a box of trinkets at a West Virginia flea market two years ago apparently acquired an original painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir without knowing it.

The woman considered discarding the painting to salvage its frame, but instead made an appointment to have it evaluated in July by the Potomack Co. auction house in Alexandria, Va., said its fine arts director Anne Norton Craner.

When the woman pulled the painting out of a garbage bag she carried it in, Craner was nearly certain the painting was a Renoir with its distinct colors, light and brushwork. A plaque on the front labeled it "Renoir."

"My gut said that it was right, but you have to then check," Craner said.

French handwriting on the back of the canvass included a label and number. Craner turned to the catalog by French gallery Bernheim-Jeune that's published all of Renoir's work.

"Low and behold, it was in volume one," she said.

An image of the painting was published in black and white, and the gallery's stock number matched the flea market find. So Craner made a digital image of the flea market painting, converted it to black and white for a closer look, and the brush strokes also matched, she said.

"It's not a painting you would fake," Craner said. "If you're going to fake something, you'd fake something easier."

Painting No. 24349 turns out to be Renoir's painting "Paysage Bords de Seine," which translates to Banks of the River Seine, Craner determined. It dates to about 1879 and measures 6 inches by 10 inches.

The painting is set for auction Sept. 29. It could fetch $75,000 or more, Craner said.

Elizabeth Wainstein, owner of the Potomack Co., said there's no doubt about the painting's authenticity.

The Shenandoah Valley woman found the painting and kept it in storage for nearly two years has declined to publicly disclose her name.

After weeks of research, Craner believes Renoir gave the painting to a woman who modeled for him. The painting was then sold to the Bernheim-Jeune art gallery for 5,000 francs in 1925, according to gallery records. The following year, the gallery sold the painting to American lawyer Herbert L. May who kept homes in New York and Geneva and also worked for the government in Washington.

As far as Craner can tell, May kept the painting in his personal collection until his death in 1966. It's a mystery, though, as to how the painting ended up in West Virginia. Still, its provenance is fairly short as the painting has not traded hands many times.

"It just did what paintings do sometimes — they kind of disappear out of circulation," Craner said. "That's what is so fantastic. This painting's been unseen since 1926."

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Potomack Co.: http://www.potomackcompany.com/

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