Whenever the residents think of changing their house after living in it for so long, the one thing that irks them is the trash that they have to deal with before moving out. After several years of residing at a place, the trash piles up more than the memories with the inmates. The memories might be quite pleasant for the residents and can overwhelm them but the trash, on the other hand, can give them severe headaches. Most of the time, people hope that they can turn the trash into treasure, but seldom that happens in real life. But what if you discover something from the trash that could put you in a dilemma whether you want to keep it or let it go at any minimal price?
Rue Ferguson of Texas had just bought a new house and he was thrilled about moving into it with his family. But first, he had to deal with something that used to irk him a lot and that was the trash that had been accumulating since the time his grandparents had built the house. He was hoping to find something that could make him rich instantly because he knew the value of vintage artifacts were quite high. Would he be able to find something?
He had been living in his ancestor's house since he was a kid and later inherited the property from his parents. The house was very old and now when he had earned enough money that he could buy another one and sell this house. The property was quite old and he was estimating how much he could get when he would put it up for sale. Well, the property wasn't the only thing that he had inherited from his ancestors. There was something else too which later gave him many sleepless nights.
Along with all the trash that he had inherited from his great-grandparents there was a painting that his mother gifted before she passed away. He used to admit that he never liked the painting since the day he had seen it for the first time but his mother had great affection with that piece of art and he couldn't understand the reason behind it. Still, when his mother gave the painting to him he took it with great respect.
He never considered the painting worth any value and thought about what he would get if he sold it in the market. The painting was really old and all its colors had faded with time. Rue Ferguson didn't want to take the trash to his new house. He wanted to style his new house in a modern way. So he thought of contacting someone who could suggest him a way to get rid of the old painting.
The old painting was hanging behind the door of Rue's home office for years, but he didn't know the history behind the painting. He had heard from his parents that his grandparents had bought the painting in Mexico City back in 1930, but he wasn't told how old the painting was exactly. He realized that just because the painting was old, it didn't mean that the painting could bring him an insane amount in return. He wasn't even aware of the artist who had painted it.
Rue had to find out about the artist who had made this painting. He started looking for the signature on the painting so that he could find out about the artist and his famous works. The young man was now curious about the value of the painting. Luckily, the next day when he was listening to the news, he came to know that the Antiques Roadshow was coming to their town, this made him jump in excitement. He thought that now his problem was solved. Was it really so?
But before taking any step he had to discuss the matter with his family. So when they sat down to have dinner that night, he asked for their suggestions. He told them that he was thinking of selling the painting. His wife was happy with his decision because she too never liked the painting so she readily agreed to sell it off.
After the discussion, Rue started to search for the contact number of the Roadshow so that he could have a brief talk about the painting with the makers of the show. Soon he gathered all the information and contact numbers of the people who were organizing the show. He dialed the number and told them about the painting.
The makers didn't waste any time and briefed him about the initial procedure for participating in the show and asked him to come to the location. He was happy when he put down his phone and started looking for a way to commute to the roadshow from his home. Would he be able to get a decent amount for the old painting?
While he was doing so, he looked at the painting for the last time before wrapping it inside the box. He found himself motionless, staring at the painting. Though he was no aficionado of art, he was not able to understand why a painter would have painted an average looking man. And why would have anyone bought this painting?
The painting depicted a man wearing a loose white linen suit, brown leather sandals along with a wide straw hat. It seemed to him like the man in the portrait gazed back at Rue with a frown- his stern, unsmiling mouth forever poised in almost bitter expression. He never knew about the back story of the painting. Suddenly, Rue had a strange feeling.
Something inside him made him touch the painting. He ran his fingers against the rough surface of the painting and felt its uneven surface. He could feel the artist’s brushstrokes distinctly. Rue could make out that the painting was done with oil paint and this made him think about the worth of the painting. He looked at the painting one more time and doubted if it could get him any money. But then he thought at least the frame might fetch a few dollars. Only if he had a little idea about the painting, his statement would have been different.
He was somewhat curious to know about the painting's back story which had been hanging on the back of his office door for years now. Rue wanted to know if it was a genuine piece of art. Some years back, a person had come to their house to appraise the painting and told the family that while the painting was nice, it was a fake. Rue remembered the person's words exactly and wanted to make sure of its originality before he could hand over the painting to the Antiques Roadshow. Would he be able to find the truth behind the painting?
Rue's family had believed the painting was an early piece of work by the renowned artist, Diego Rivera. But as per the person who came for evaluation, this wasn't painted by the famous painter, Diego but the style was somewhat similar to what he used to paint. Several questions were running inside his mind. He tried to find some clues that could help him solve the mystery.
So he sat on a chair in his study with the painting on his lap and started looking for the smallest clue that he could find in the painting. While he was doing so, he came across the artist's signature that was still clearly visible in a corner. When he examined the signature he found something strange about the painting. What was it?
He tried to focus on the signature, something about it made him bite his nails out of curiosity. He could make out the name under which the signature was signed. The name that was written at the bottom was of the artist, Rivera. There was one thing that was continuously questioning the originality of the painting and that was the way the artist had signed the painting. It seemed to him like Rivera had signed it in a hurry. But why would he have signed the masterpiece in a hurry?
Rue didn't want to waste any more minutes searching for clues because his research wasn't helping him find the answers to his questions. He impulsively bundled up the painting and hauled it to the place where the popular reality show, Antiques Roadshow, was being filmed in Texas. He came to know that Colleene Fesko, a senior appraiser had come to the show to appraise the treasure that was hidden inside the city.
When he reached there he saw a long queue of people standing with artifacts in their hands. It dawned upon him that the journey to find the truth wasn't that easy as it seemed to him. Every person in the queue had to tell a little back history about the artworks they were carrying along with them. This was the initial criteria that everyone had to follow to get themselves registered for the show. It was done so that the roadshow had only antique and genuine pieces on display. But Rue was yet to find out the originality of the painting that he was carrying.
He felt as if he skipped a heartbeat, he couldn't think of any particular story that he could tell the people who were registering for the show. Would he be able to pass the test? He had to think of something to get out of this situation because no matter what he had to find answers to all his questions and sell off the painting. What would he do now?
Rue's family was quite famous in the town so he thought he might be able to skip the questions required to get an entry in the roadshow. So he started to find someone who he might know so that he could directly enter the place. After a while, he found a person who was helping in managing the whole show. He didn't waste a moment and straight away went to that person for help. Would the person help him get through the long queue?
Luckily, the man recognized him and allowed him to go inside the show without any questions and filled his registration form too. Rue thought as if he had passed a huge hurdle that could possibly come in between him and the truth about the painting. He sighed in relief as he moved inside the room in which the show was being filmed. His eyes hurriedly searched for the appraiser because now he wanted to sell-off the painting away at the earliest.
He waited for a while and waved his hand to the appraiser. When Colleene Fesko saw him, she came near the painting to examine it. There was no doubt that Rue was a bit scared of the consequence if the appraiser too realized that the painting was a fake. But her expression changed the moment she set her eyes on the painting. Rue on the other side was just praying it to be a positive sign.
Rue could make out from her expression that she was amazed by the painting. Had she seen something that could have gone unnoticed by him? He too focused his eyes on the painting to guess what she was looking at. She then turned her head to face Rue. He was desperately waiting for her to reveal something about the painting. Was she going to unravel the truth that was hidden for years?
Rue wasn't able to understand what was intriguing her so much. She then pointed out the signature that was at the bottom right-hand corner. The appraiser said that it was deliberately written in a hurry. And that's why the experts at the San Antonio Museum of art might have said that it was not an original work. The signature was irregularly scrawled at the bottom. She then started to unravel the mystery behind the painting.
Unbeknown to Rue, his father too had the painting appraised in the year 1988, a decade earlier than the roadshow. In that evaluation, a curator at the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) too had revealed to him that the signature was irregular and didn't match other signature by the same artist. What the people at that time didn't know was that therein lies the true value of the painting.
The appraiser, Colleene Fesko was looking more carefully at the irregular signature as if the whole truth of the painting resided inside it. She raised her eyes to Rue's and said something that made him question his theories that he was making from the moment he had thought of selling the painting. What was so unique about the signature?
Rue was still looking at her as he was curious to know the unknown facts about the painting. But it seemed like the appraiser had lost words and finally when she became to her senses, she said: “Well, there are two extraordinarily intriguing words in an artist’s catalog of paintings…” she began. What did she mean by that?
“And those words are ‘whereabouts unknown’,”Colleene said. Rue too had become more attentive trying to what she was saying. “My understanding of the painting’s history is that it was painted in 1904,” she continued, pausing for effect, “…by Diego Rivera". This painting by the artist was one of the most important works of the 20th century. Interestingly, he was only 18 years old at that time.
The young man had given all his ears to the lady as she told him more about the painting. “And there were, I think, only three or four paintings known from that early time…the painting is signed here as ‘Diego Rivera’, 1904. And what’s interesting about the signature is it’s a very young man’s signature.” He was surprised at this revelation, what else was there which was yet to be unraveled.
Rue remembered that his father had become obsessed with the painting when he was alive. He used to read every autobiography and paper ever written on the hedonistic Mexican muralist. There were basically 3 influential muralists in the 20th century and those were Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros. The trio was called “los tres grandes”.
His father had become consumed by the painting, but his prime interest was to know about the artist's role in the Mexican Revolution. He used to constantly think about the painting and the artist and often used to have long discussions with him. Whenever Rue used to ask him to stop thinking the painting so much, he would often brush him off by saying that the painting was really authentic and this wasn't a painting to be kept inside the four walls of the house. Rue would ignore him thinking that the old man had become cranky with his age. Was that so?
The artist, Diego Rivera was one the most important political artists of the 20th century and he had gained this reputation because of his artworks. Unlike other artists, he wasn't just an admirer of the beauty of nature or fascinated by attractive women, his works would rather depict the plight of the laborers, the brick-layers and farmers. The other artists never used to experiment with their artworks the way Rivera used to do. He always used to try to show the reality to the world.
Because of his unique thinking, his works were considered to be a national treasure in Mexico today. There were hardly any artists at that time who used to raise their voice against such serious issues using their artworks because they were afraid of the consequences that their actions might lead to. Rivera wasn't just an artist who would remain engrossed in his work in the small room and ignore whatever that might be happening in the town. He used to indulge in every political event that used to happen in the town. But then how come Rue’s great-grandfather acquired the painting?
His political involvement was well known to almost every politician, which meant he often feared for his life. His nightmares began to materialize in early 1937. In that year, he hosted who was a famous Russian Revolutionary, in his then-wife Frida Kahlo's home. Leon was exiled due to his anti-Stalinist views. They both had set up a Joint Commission of Inquiry into the Moscow Trials. This wasn't hidden from Stalin’s eyes and his long arms had reached Mexico to get a hold on them.
Three years later, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City, which was really close to Rivera and Kahlo’s home. Rivera knew that the whole plan was executed by Stalin himself and strongly believed that he could be their next target. One evening when Rivera was finishing a portrait of the actress and wife of Charlie Chaplin, he heard some strange noises coming from outside.
He and his wife were startled with screeching sound of brakes outside their house, his wife rushed to investigate the strange noises. When she came out of her house she was surprised when she saw some suspicious-looking men sitting inside the cars with guns in their hands. She ran to the nearest phone booth to alert her husband about the danger.
Rivera didn't waste any time and escaped by hiding on the floor of his station wagon with the help of his assistant who helped him to reach a safe place. He fled to San Fransico because he feared that plain cloth policemen might frame him in the assassination case of Trotsky. So he remained underground for 5 months in San Francisco. What would he do next?
“I want to make clear to you that the difficulties that have been created for me within the last few days are the result of the work of Mexican agents of the Stalin-Nazis, who want to avoid my going to the States, to injure me here in every way, and assassinate me if possible,” he told his fears to a close friend. While he remained underground in San Francisco he went on to paint one of the most important pieces of art in America, titled “Pan American Unity”.
After she told Rue about the back history of the artist, Colleene went on to unravel more secrets related to the artist and the painting. What next was she going to tell? She continued, “The research that we found in the authentication process is that it had been missing. In the records of Mexico city, it was unknown…where is the painting? Where is ‘El Albañil? Which is ‘The Laborer’. It was an important painting for him in 1904, and then it disappeared.”
After listening to all the revelations, Rue was stunned with the discoveries. He stared at the appraiser in disbelief when she said that the painting had disappeared all of a sudden. Would he be able to put the missing pieces of the puzzle and solve the mystery?
“Well, I think you have something of a painting trifecta here,” Colleene said. “The painting itself is by a very important artist, it has a terrific history–being purchased in Mexico in 1930–and it’s a very beautiful and important painting. So…trifectas usually pay pretty well,” Rue's face lightened up when he heard the statement. He started estimating the value he could get for the painting.
“I would be putting a retail estimate on the painting of between $800,000 and $1,000,000,” she said in conclusion. Rue was staring at her amazement because this came as a surprise to him so he said: ”Seriously?” he exclaimed. He couldn't think of a painting which had been hung on the backside in his office to be worth a million dollar!
“My gosh…unbelievable…” Rue said in disbelief, ” I did not expect that!” Since the day they found out about Rivera's painting, the painting had only skyrocketed but she told Rue that the value had gone up to $2,200,000! His jaw dropped when he heard the amount of the painting which he was assuming to be worthless. Were there any more surprises coming his way?
“It’s very rare to see works of Rivera's that old. It’s not a painting that was sitting in a museum for people to see every day,” Mariel MacNaughton who was the Antiques Roadshow executive said in an interview. So, what was Rue going to do now with the most valuable asset in his hands?
“More than likely I would imagine it needs to be in a museum where everybody can look at it,” Rue said afterward. “Now I’m really scared to carry it around at this point.” Hence this is what Rue decided to do. Now the famous painting hangs in the San Antonio Museum of Art which is located on the Museum Reach of the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Other important and valuable artworks by the artist are on display in the United States for the public to see and know more about the era. They are very expensive for any person who wants to buy one of the paintings to add in his/her heirloom. Colleene explained, “Market-wise, 17 different paintings by the artist have sold for more than $1 million at auction; most recently, ‘The Rivals’ from the Rockefeller collection sold for a record-breaking $9.7 million after a pre-sale estimate of $5 million to $7 million.”