PICTURE FINDS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 268, 24 December 1928, Page 3

PICTURE FINDS.

‘mAVM YOU ANY OLD MASTERS ? | ragfe J j^pj^/.Percy Bland in the Daily News.) >' :«K r : it is quite possible that stored ;away » : '.sg An obscure corner, or hidden under ‘ -lirtibbish in some attic, there are many s|p>ieces of property worth a couple of ' guineas each*—or even more. ■/ . They may have been lying there for because nobody but an expert suspect them of having any ||y&itie. i ■' A blurred, perhaps torn, piece of old |i looking smudged or daubed colour, might well be something r ; '-Jra|ite different from what it seems. It ’S'ijjiight be an old master camouflaged dirt. ! : r ? The quest for pictures by famous painters has taken a new lease of life "recently, and some quite respectable j fortunes are being realised by people ! "Who never suspected the worth of . some neglected possession until the \ eye of an expert discovered its value. ' This is particularly true of the’ Britain has had a rich store of pic- j ±ures, not only those painted by her ! own artists, but also the work of for- ‘ eign painters who settled here, or j whose! masterpieces were brought j home by British travellers. j One of the main reasons why own- | ers of old masters are often unaware of the worth of the pictures is that in many cases the real painting of a fam- ( ous artist, a Rembrandt or a Rubens, has been ovterpainted at a later day, And the original work does not appear on the surface until restoration is un- , •dertaken. Quite a considerable amount of over-painting* took place through the puritanical attitude of people into whose possession the pictures came fcy heredity or otherwise. It seems rather ridiculous viewed by modern /. standards, but reference to collateral y forms of art and literature will show similar instances. Recently a famous continental authorit y was invited to express an opinion as to a painting by the ceelbrated Dutch artist, Rembrandt. The picture has been picked up in an obscure village in Belgium. The subject represented an old woman reading her Bible. The expert concluded that it was a genuine work of the Dutch master,

■ and implored a wealthy friend to pur- [ Chase it frir £4OOO. I The friend thought that the expression on the woman’s face did not at i all suit the occupation of Bible read- | ing, but finally accepted the expert’s 1 advice.

The expert then had the picture restored, whom it -was found that Rembrandt had pictured the old lady doing nothing worse than plucking a goose. Apparently a half-naked goose was not considered suitable for exhibition to a later generation, and another artist was commissioned to tone it down for posterity. j? ’ The picture is to-day valued at £50,000. m, A peer who had a particuraly celebrated collection agreed to dispose of seme of the paintings to a firm of dealers. The senior member of the firm called upon him to value the pictures and settle the financial side of the transaction.

The peer welcomed him but expressed his regret that the journey would prove fruitless. The pictures which were, in the -vendor’s judgment, of real value and importance, were kept at his other seat some hundreds of miles away. He entertained his visitor to lunch, after which, at the latter’s request, he took him to an attic to inspect some old curios. Immediately on entering the attic the visitor’s attention was attracted to old canvases, framed and unframed, lying about at random. The peer said they were of no account, but the dealer begged permission to examine them.

After a few minutes he fixed upon one of the most disreputable in appearance, and said: “This is a missing Holbein. I will give you £BOOO for it.”