Ellsworth American., 1904-06-08
An Art treasure


w.,h artistic tastes" considered this
,ciT unjust and proposed to show that
], was false. ! set up as a dealer in
uictuIes.
! noticed one day in a print shop
i';nEy painting in an old fashioned
frame. the portrait Of man in monk
i;l dress looking up to heaven as IL In
r1Ner. | passed on, looked over some
cugrayings and was going out when
ly eye again caught the painting
There was something in it that attract
ed me. What was 1t? | couldn't tell
Perhaps 1t was trace of saintllness in
the face. perhaps the attitude. 1t
couldn't have been the coioring, for
that was also dingy.
Where did you get that?" l asked of
the shopkeeper
THAT? 1t came In yesterday from an
old building they are tearing down.
They found ii between the plastering
and the woodwork"
How did 1t come to be there?"
Don't know"
How much do you want for it?"
Five dollars"
went home and told my wife that
had taken II fancy TO a picture VIII IN |
thought could clean up. put on a new
frame and sell for ten or fifteen dollars
profit, But she had had quite enough of
my investments and gave a grumbling
dissent. A few days later / went into the
shop again and was informed that the
picture had arrested the attention Of
another man. but he was seedy look
ing party and had no money The
price had advanced to $40.
Soon after this | went into the shop
again. to find that the picture had been
sold for STJ. | inquired who had
bought 1t and was told that II was a
Jew who was supposed to know some
thing Of the value of pictures went
to his shop and found the picture.
When I asked If he would sell 1t and
at what price he shook his head and
said he suspected 1t to be the work of
one OF the old masters and was afraid
to part with 1t for fear of losing a for
tune by doing so. One or two high
grade critics had looked Mt 1t and de-
clared that 1t could not have been
painted by a modern artist. However.
| badgered the Jew. making various
offers for 1t till | had reached $3.50
when he took me up so quick that ii
frightened me.
There | was the purchaser of a pie
ture for which | was to pay $3.50 not
having - cents In the world and the
picture probably not being worth 81
frame and all. However, l was In for
II, and as one foolish thing leads to
another | borrowed the money to pay
for 1t on my life insurance policy.
Then took the picture home and con-
fcssed the whole matter to my wife,
/ will not attempt TO describe the
storm that followed. l remember es-
pecially the last words OF the scolding
she gave me. "Old master! Any artist
who can paint a nose in the center of
black background can be an old mas
ter"
When there was lull l set to work
cleaning the picture, at which process
consider myself an expert. and was
surprised at the richness of the color
ing And what was my delight to dis
Germ In one corner that had been thick
with dust the name OF the great Rem
brandt.
Well, as soon as had got the picture
in good condition and had reframed it
l took 1t to the most prominent dealer
In town and set 1t up in his shop. Crit
les and dealers fiocked TO see it. while
/, sitting near, listened to their COM
ments Some believed it to be Rem
brandt simply from the name in the
corner Others declared that they
would know q Rembrandt without his
name attached and pointed out fea-
lures which only Rembrandt could have
produced. There were art teachers and
art students among the throng, the for
mer directing the latter in perceiving
the wonderful life the artist had put
into face and figure besides the exqui-
site coloring.
Every day got better offer for the
treasure, and finally multimillionaire
agreed, provided | could trace the
paintings history. to pay me $4,000,
and without the history he would give
So, 1000. / could not produce any proof
OF its genuireness except the story OF
how It was found, its merits and the
name In the corner, so l took the
So, 1000
forgave my wife for her doubts as
to my ability to turn an honest penny,
though she declared that there was
some raseality about the matter which
| had innocently become a party to.
She persuaded me to invest the funds
received in bonds, which made our in
come about $1,000. On this we went
abroad and lived a number of years in
Florence.
was dining one day at a cafe in
Paris and told the story Of my Rem
brandt TO my dinner companions.
When rose from the table a gentle
man tapped me on the shoulder and
said he would like to speak with me in
private. When we were alone together