posted on October 2, 2000 10:49:38 PM new
The great van Gogh threads have slowed to a trickle and as this is by no means pertinent, I thought I would post here. The insults that were tossed around by the defenders of those connected with the painting and their prevarications hardly promote sympathy and understanding, but one aspect of the whole saga keeps coming back to me.
Imagine years ago being left a few paintings by a grandmother, paintings that family members were convinced were both exceptional and had a wonderful story, even if like many stories it might have become garbled over time. Then come long fruitless years of trying to get the paintings recognized and the story confirmed. Being human, the passage of forty years fails to blow on any little ember of doubt and instead makes you more set in your belief in their great worth. It does not help to discover that the art world is as filled with self interest and questionable practice as any place else. You feel repeatedly frustrated and even cheated. Then you come really, really close. You have a sale agreement for several million dollars. No doubt, in your mind you spend the proceeds, knowing how it will change your life. Alas, the sale falls through. The let down is numbing, but now you have even more hope and reassurance because if you came this close once you know you can do it again.
So instead of receiving an inheritance of a few pretty picures that would bring to mind nothing but happy family memories and a little gratitude, you actually received something with the potential to permanently blight your life with bitterness and despair.
posted on October 3, 2000 08:28:10 AM newPrudence, ordinarily I would agree with your point of view. However, in this case, I believe the facts suggest that the owner of this painting willfully and intentionally tried to deceive the buying public by falsifying pertinent documents. I don't think that type of behavior promotes sympathy.
posted on October 3, 2000 09:11:46 AM new
bhearsch, I absolutely agree with you. I guess sympathy is the wrong word, maybe pity is better. I think I can understand the exasperation that would drive someone to say, add a pencil inscription on the stretcher even when it is not only wrong but hurtful to one's own cause. I don't know about you, but I have certainly heard many stories of people carrying a grudge because some relative ended up with granny's trinkets that should have gone to them. Here is someone who actually got the big prize in the inheritance sweepstakes and it probably has brought no joy. On top of that I wonder if there are relatives who haven't been speaking for forty years because they did not get these paintings. It would have happened in my family.
posted on October 3, 2000 12:05:23 PM new
First, it should be notd that you're assuming that the seller's story regarding how he acquired the painting is actually true - which, given seller's track record on veracity, I'd take with a cupful or two of salt.
What the seller did is no different from turning back the odometer on your Ford before you sell it because heck, you KNOW it's a good car no matter what the mechanics say.
As Barry's pointed out, fabricating "proof" to bolster your beliefs is perhaps "pitiful" (and rather embarrassing to your friends) if you display the item in your home. When, however, you use such "proof" to jack up the value of an item in an attempt to sell it, the appropriate adjective is "illegal" or "fraudulent".
This seller has tried to do this once before with the painting in question, and apparently has at least one other painting he'd like to fob off on some rube. Taken in the most optimistic light possible, at the very best it's grotesque self-delusion based on greed so overwhelming it persists even in the face of irrefutable evidence. No sympathy from this corner. It's all with the FBI now.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Oct 3, 2000 12:07 PM ]
posted on October 3, 2000 12:36:16 PM new
Dear HCQ,
I am still waiting for one your posts with which to take serious disagreement. You are no doubt right. As several little similar stories have played out I have noticed your early intuition to be better than mine.
Outright fraud? Possibly. Self-delusion? Possibly. Obsession? Possibly. It may be that there is not even a grain of truth in the whole story.
Now that the authorities are involved it would seem to be further indication that this is an object a rational person would choose to have never owned.
I would extend my sympathy for the vile abuse those peopled directed at you, but I expect that it provided you with more amusement than hurt. I hope you are feeling better.
