Comments by "christine paris" (@christineparis5607) on "1961 Theft of Francisco Goya's Wellington Portrait" video.
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In San Antonio, Texas, there was a huge scandal several years ago when a prominent citizen, active in the art community, was discovered to be dealing in stolen art. There numerous missing art works hanging boldly in his home, and he was part (if I remember correctly) of a large underground "railroad" of art sales.
I worked once at the McNay Art Institute and used to walk the galleries at lunch, always stopping before 2 small Van Goghs, my favorite artist. One day, only one was still hanging in the accustomed spot. I asked at the desk where the other one was hanging, but received an evasive reply. I didn't think much of it at first, but began to try and find out whether it had been loaned out, or sold, and no one would admit that the painting had even been on display. I visited those two for a year almost every day, and I know that they were both Van Gogh. This was over thirty years ago, and back then the astronomical price for Van Gogh was starting to become news. It has bothered me to this day that the small painting absolutely vanished without a trace, at least that I could find. My husband once said, "it's probably hanging in the janitors garage", because the galley had terrible security back then, really terrible.
It's a mystery that still bothers me. If anyone has an idea of how to track down art, I'm interested in hearing about it...
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