Row over €150k painting found in dump to be settled
English tourist Tony Varney claims to have found Children Under a Palm Tree, a previously unknown water-colour by Winslow Homer (1836-1910), one of America’s most important 19th century artists, dumped near a rubbish tip in east Cork over 30 years ago.
Mr Varney said he found the painting, along with other works of art, while on a fishing trip on the River Blackwater near Youghal.
But it was only when it was assessed by experts on the BBC Antiques Roadshow in 2008, that they discovered Homer’s signature, and realised its true value and importance.
Mr Varney and his daughter Selina decided to auction it and Sotheby’s New York valued it at $150,000-$250,000 (€103k-€172k).
But the sale was dramatically halted when Simon Murray, a London-based barrister whose mother, Shirley, lives in Sir Walter Raleigh’s former house, Myrtle Grove in Youghal, intervened.
He travelled to Manhattan to claim ownership of it for his family.
He claims the painting was among several in his family’s ownership since the 1880s and which were stolen from Myrtle Grove’s gate lodge in the 1980s.
The exact date of the theft is unknown. There were several break-ins at the property between 1985 and 1987, and the family didn’t realise the paintings were stolen until later.
Efforts to broker a deal between Mr Murray and the Varney’s were unsuccessful and the picture was withdrawn from auction.
The remarkable story was chronicled last Friday on BBC’s Fake or Fortune series which showed presenters Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould travel to Ireland to investigate the mystery.
Sotheby’s has had the painting in safe-keeping while the legal issues unfolded. They are expected to come to a head at a meeting in London on Thursday between lawyers representing Mr Varney, and art experts from the Art Loss Register representing Mr Murray.
