Winslow Homer watercolor sparks dispute
- June 21, 2011 16:00
An 1885 watercolor by American artist Winslow Homer was found in a trash pile by a fisherman and his daughter in Ireland in the 1980s. They discovered it was worth around £150,000, and consigned it to a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2009.
After the auction catalog came out, the painting's original owners claimed the work, titled Children Under a Palm Tree, belonged to them and the sale was stopped. For two years, a legal stand-off has ensued over the painting's rightful ownership.
Homer painted the three children of Sir Henry Arthur Blake, a British colonial administrator who lived in the Bahamas in the late 19th century, during a visit with the family.
The Blake family retired to County Cork, Ireland, bringing the watercolor with them. The nagging mystery involves how the painting appeared in a rubbish pile and who is the rightful owner. BBC's program Fake or Fortune? delved into the saga on June 26.
![A 19th century Seven Piece "Chrysanthemum" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago](/images/c/78/96/Tiffany___Co__Makers_Seven_Piece_"Chrysanthem100x100_c.jpg "A 19th century Seven Piece \"Chrysanthemum\" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago")
_-Closing-the-Distance_100x100_c.jpg "Lot 204: Bob Kuhn (1920–2007),Closing the Distance, 1977, acrylic on masonite, 24 x 48 in, Sold: $409,500")
