The drawing, which a couple from England bought for a pittance and nearly used as an oil pan when repairing a motorcycle, turned out to be an expensive work by renowned British artist Lucian Freud. This is reported by the Daily Mail.
A male portrait on a plain background was sold along with two other framed prints. All this cost the pair 12 pounds (1.1 thousand rubles). Not realizing the value of the portrait, its new owners were going to ruin it by placing it under the engine oil drain while repairing the motorcycle.
They soon recognized a similar image on the “Museum Secrets” TV show, which was dedicated to the Gildings Auctioneers in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. The auction house confirmed that the purchase of the pair is one of 46 prints featuring artist David Dawson. The print will be put up for auction. It was estimated at 18 thousand pounds (1.7 million rubles).
20th century art scholar Will Gilding said: “I was delighted to inform this couple that the print they acquired at the price of takeaway pizza turned out to be the work of perhaps the most famous figurative painter of the 20th century.”
“How it happened that such a valuable job was given almost free of charge remains a mystery,” said Gilding. One of the 46 prints was sold in New York a few years ago for $ 30,000 (2.1 million rubles).
Earlier it was reported that a glass vase, bought at a flea market in the American region of the Pacific Northwest, turned out to be a rare specimen of 1902, which could go under the hammer for a million rubles. It was discovered by a customer in a second-hand store.
