300 art treasures found in Polish garden shed!

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Sep 29, 11, 19:19 #1

Nobody expected this. I wonder what else could be out there...

300 paintings worth millions discovered in Polish outhouse
A collection of 300 paintings worth millions of euros have been discovered in a Polish outhouse belonging to a 92-year-old former bricklayer, with police baffled as to how they got there.

The paintings were found mixed up with junk and rubbish in a dirty two-storey concrete building in the bricklayer's garden near the north-western city of Szczecin.

Police said the mysterious collection included works of art from the Renaissance and German baroque periods, with the oldest painting dating back to 1532. They also discovered a lithograph by the Polish artist Jozef Czajkowski, which disappeared from a museum in Katowice during the war.

Rest of article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8794249/300-paintings- worth-millions-discovered-in-Polish-outhouse.html

MyMomThreads: 9 Posts: 185 Joined: Aug 13, 11 ♂	Sep 29, 11, 19:34 #2
They call the guy thief because he is a bricklayer and doesn't belong to the establishment. They didn't write that his daughter went to the police to report that someone was stealing from that collection while her father was unable to move.

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Edited by: JonnyM Sep 29, 11, 19:54 #3

They call the guy thief because he is a bricklayer and doesn't belong to the establishment.

No. They call the guy a thief because he had a garden shed full of art treasures that didn't belong to him. Instead of going to the police, perhaps his daughter should have taken them to the National Museum. Amazing that he's been sitting on them for all these years - what was he thinking?. Let's hope the cold and damp in his shed hasn't done too much damage.

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Sep 29, 11, 20:21 #4

No. They call the guy a thief because he had a garden shed full of art treasures that didn't belong to him

not necessarily. He was living in a house formerly owned by an art dealer and you could argue that he bought the house along with the contents, so technically he may be the legal owner.
It is not as though the bricklayer was stealing art treasures and raiding museums himself.
As he has suffered from strokes, it is unlikely that he will be able to shed any light on how the art treasures happened to get there and would be too frail to stand trial, even if charged with something

The authorities should confiscate the lot as he has clearly demonstrated that he has not been a worthy custodian of the art

MyMomThreads: 9 Posts: 185 Joined: Aug 13, 11 ♂	Sep 29, 11, 20:26 #5
They call the guy a thief because he had a garden shed full of art treasures that didn't belong to him How did they not belong to him? The police took the collection from him because "it seems very valuable", not because they have any evidence he stole anything.

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Sep 29, 11, 20:26 #6

not necessarily. He was living in a house formerly owned by an art dealer and you could argue that he bought the house along with the contents, so technically he may be the legal owner.

That could expose him to an accusation of receiving stolen goods. In any case, the priceless art treasures almost certainly weren't included in the bill of sale. They should have been turned over to the state as soon as they were found. I wonder if he was naive enough to hope that in a few generations people would have forgotten about them.

espanaThreads: 40 Posts: 2,233 Joined: Feb 28, 07 ♂	Sep 29, 11, 20:30 #7
who might have stolen the art treasures towards the end of the second world war but magic !!! Abracadabra !!!!!! they always finish in polish hands .

JonnyMThreads: 16 Posts: 4,487 Joined: Mar 9, 11 ♂	Sep 29, 11, 20:48 #8
How did they not belong to him? Perhaps because they were missing from galleries and private collections...

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Edited by: boletus Sep 29, 11, 20:54 #9

Abracadabra !!!!!! they always finish in polish hands .

Like a pair of 19th century paintings by Polish Impressionist Julian Fałat, looted by the Nazis nearly seven decades ago, that were returned to Polish authorities last Thursday in a ceremony in New York? Seized by U.S. officials after Poland's government learned in 2006 that the works were being offered for sale by two auction houses (including Christie's)? Identity of a thief, or a receiver of stolen goods, has not been revealed for whatever reason.

MyMomThreads: 9 Posts: 185 Joined: Aug 13, 11 ♂	Edited by: MyMom Sep 29, 11, 21:01 #10
Perhaps because they were missing from galleries and private collections... Which items from those 300 were missing and from which galleries and private collections? Maybe I can send police to your house so that they can take away your belongings to investigate whether they are not stolen or not? In the meantime we could call you thief in the press.

beckskiThreads: 19 Posts: 2,148 Joined: May 15, 07 MEMBER ♀	Sep 30, 11, 04:22 #11
Perhaps because they were missing from galleries and private collections... Who knows. It's good to know some of the artwork is now in a museum, protected from more damage from the elements. A sincere thanks PF, for putting up with me FIVE terrific years, muah!

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