BRU$H-OFF FOR A GOOD DEED,
LOW REWARD FOR SAVING $1M ART !!
New York Post
By TODD VENEZIA
November 22, 2007 -- An Upper East Side woman who found a stolen masterpiece painting in a pile of garbage four years ago was stunned to see it sell for more than $1 million at a Sotheby's auction.
But Elizabeth Gibson won't be seeing much of that money, since the original owner decided to give her a measly $15,000 reward.
"I basically gave her a million dollars," she said.
Gibson found the painting - "Tres Personajes," by Mexican abstract artist Rufino Tamayo - in 2003 as she was passing a Dumpster near her home.
She immediately could tell it was no ordinary trash.
"I took it because it has a supernatural power," she said yesterday. "There was a mystery to it from the moment I saw it to when the hammer went down."
After she took it home, she struggled to find out who created the work and who owned it.
After four years of probing the painting's origins - including fruitless contact with lawyers, insurance adjusters and art experts - Gibson finally found her way to the Web site for the PBS program "Antiques Roadshow." There, she discovered that the splotchy red, purple and yellow picture was stolen in 1989.
Gibson later took the painting to the Sotheby's auction house, which discovered the owner was a Houston woman - and that the painting was stolen from storage.
The owner's husband coincidentally bought it from a Sotheby's auction in 1977.
Back then, it sold for $55,000 - and when it vanished, the woman put up a $15,000 reward.
Gibson said that when she got the painting back to the woman through contacts at Sotheby's, she hoped the owner would up the reward a bit, considering two decades of inflation and the fact that experts expected it to sell for between $750,000 and $1 million.
But the woman - who has not been identified - wouldn't budge, Gibson said.
"People tried to get her to give me more," she said. "But she wasn't interested."
The painting beat expectations and sold for $1,049,000 in the Latin American art auction Tuesday.
The owner wouldn't give her a percentage of the sale. Gibson said that Sotheby's felt so bad for her after all her work that it gave her an undisclosed percentage of the sale commission.
Nevertheless, Gibson said she had no regrets.
"In the end I feel very blessed," she said. "This is the best Thanksgiving ever."
Art Hostage comments:
First of all, it would be nice if this Houston woman would comment on her alleged mean spirited action.
If we are to go along with Ms Gibson being an honest, innocent, genuine finder of this stolen artwork, then the Houston woman is acting very tough and demonstrating a mean spirit, especially as today is Thanksgiving.
However, the Houston woman may be acting on FBI instructions to keep the reward low ?
That said, Sotheby's will, no doubt, share its fee with Ms Gibson, for good Public Relations.
Sotheby's get paid 20% from both buyer and seller, so perhaps Ms Gibson will be in for a windfall after all ?
Sotheby's may not offer the Houston woman any discount on her sellers premium, 25% on the first $20,000, 20% on the next $480,000 and 12% thereafter, due to her miserly, mean spirited, nasty, self-serving, greedy attitude.
What both Sotheby's and Ms Gibson failed to say to the Houston woman is:
"Happy Thanksgiving, really, really hope you choke on your Turkey, you mean spirited, miserly, undeserving, money grabbing, Scarlet O'Hara"
Next time you lose anything valuable the reaction will be:
"Go Fuck yourself, big time !!"
Please, please, correct me if there is another legitimate reason why the Houston woman will not pay a reward that reflects the public spirit in which, we are led to believe, this stolen artwork was returned.
The millions of honest people reading about this story may think twice about acting honestly if they feel they will not be rewarded sufficiently.
Before anyone starts moralising about doing a Public spirited thing, without reward, please, bottom line is the money, stupid !!
Has anyone wondered if the Houston woman's husband collected any insurance payout ???
If so, then the painting would belong to the insurance company, or at the very least the Houston woman would have to pay the $55,000 insurance payout back !!
If the Houston woman is a miser in reality, then perhaps she has not informed the insurance company ??
Finally, perhaps Sotheby's and Ms Gibson may consider sending the Houston woman some Pretzels to choke on !!
Now, to much more pleasant things.
On this Thanksgiving day I would like to make a personal plea to those who control the stolen Gardner Art, Vermeer especially.
A trip to the local Catholic Church to make confession, whilst leaving the Gardner art in the confession box, will almost certainly result in the full, I repeat full payment of the current $5 million dollar reward offered by the Honourable Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston.
It may even result in a payment of $10 million, as the Gardner Museum is considering the Art Hostage plan to double the reward.
Remember, the person claiming the reward must, I repeat must, stand up to Public and Law Enforcement scrutiny, be it in Boston, Bulgaria or Bantry Bay.
Therefore, the only person to defiantly tick all of the boxes is a Catholic Priest or Bishop, who can claim the reward without revealing the identity of who returned the stolen Gardner artworks via the confession box.
The power of the confession allows the Priest to do this in an honourable manner, and in any case, it is not murder, violence or drugs, it is iconic artworks that will be displayed for everyone to enjoy.
So, this Thanksgiving Day, say a Hail Mary, pass the Gardner Art to the Catholic Priest or Bishop, and collect the reward from the Priest/Bishop.
One last thing, make sure the person handing the Gardner art back, via a Confession Box, has not had anything to do with the original theft or the subsequent handling, got it !!
Thanksgiving memo to Whitey Bulger:
"Jimmy B, if you want to hand yourself in, do it with a Catholic priest or Bishop, why, well they can claim the $1 million reward bounty without any objections from the Media, Public or Law Enforcement.
If you want to make sure you are not assassinated, take refuge in a Catholic Church, then let the worlds Media descend upon your location, then request the Justice Department take you into custody.
Hope you have kept your diaries safe, especially as they give every detail of your career.
Lunch, sorry Jimmy B, it's far too hot, and I don't mean the weather !!
Ssh, they think I'm joking !!
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