An antique painting worth millions of dollars was left in a warehouse

April 26, 2022 19:30 GMT+7

The 400-year-old painting features a dining table scene, with a white tablecloth, silver goblet and many glassware and plenty of food including half-baked pies, nuts and bread rolls.

Ancient painting before being restored

According to experts, the art painting ‘Still Life’ has been kept for many years in a building that is now Woodford Academy in New South Wales. The painting was placed in a storage shed that was neglected for many years until the new owner came in to change the whole house.

This is one of 36 works of art sent to conservationists after a public appeal to fund the restoration of the art.

“It was a rare and extremely exciting moment,” said Julian Bickersteth, chief executive officer of the company undertaking the restoration work.

After removing the polish during cleaning, restorers discovered a small signature carved into the wood with a knife. According to experts, this is a painting by Gerrit Willemsz.Heda in Haarlem in the 17th century.

The painting after being carefully restored

Gerrit Willemsz.Heda was only about 17 years old at the time of the completion of the work. The talented teenage painter is the son of the famous 17th-century Dutch still-life painter Willem Claesz.Heda.

He was one of the great masters of the Dutch Golden Age. However, the signature of Gerrit Willemsz.Heda was very similar to that of his father, so for a long time his paintings were still mistaken for his father. Because of that, there are some opinions that the painting ‘Still Life’ could be a collaborative work between father and son.

The 17th-century painting dates from the Dutch Golden Age. According to experts, the painting has a high value, estimated to be worth millions of dollars. It is known that the works of Willem Claesz.Heda usually cost about 2.9 to 3.7 million USD.

One of the biggest mysteries is how this precious painting came from a Dutch artist to Australia. The researchers hypothesized that in the 1830s, paintings from the Netherlands were very popular, becoming fashionable at the time.

As predicted, Alfred Fairfax is the grandson of James Fairfax, the founder of the Sydney Morning Herald who brought the painting home in Woodford, Australia. Alfred Fairfax purchased a building in the town of Woodford in 1868, a time when Dutch works were particularly popular.

The house became a private school in the 1870s. After the death of the academy’s principal, John McManamey, his daughter Gertrude’s photograph shows her sitting next to a painting resembling ‘Still Life’.

Hoang Dung (synopsis)