Blog Post

The Situation
EnservioSelect was recently asked to review a claim for a stolen painting with a stated value of $185,000. The painting was a depiction of a religious scene dating to the 17th century. The claim amount was based upon an appraisal from a prominent west coast art gallery. The art gallery staff completing the appraisal had the additional credentials associated with their signature of an “Associate Member of the Appraisers Association of America”.
 

Research
The staff at Select interviewed the owner who reported he acquired the art in a barter situation years earlier, in which he had accepted the representation under the impression it was worth $165,000.

The scene depicted in the painting is a painting hanging at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Careful reading of the flowery wording in the supplied appraisal found this was a 20th century copy, of a famous 17th century painting, by an obscure painter.
 

The painter was not recognized by the experts in the EnservioSelect art department. Further research at Select found, the artist could not be located in any of the art databases, and his work had never been listed for sale in any available auction records. The appraisal listed exhibitions credited for the artist; however our efforts to locate the listed venues found that they did not exist.
 

The Result
The painting can best be described as a late 20th century copy of a 17th century masterpiece done on canvas with oils by an unlisted artist. If the copy was “in the style” of the original artist and well executed, it would have a retail replacement value of $14,660 inclusive of custom framing.