A beforehand unknown portray by Summary Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock was seized throughout an anti-organised crime raid in Sofia, Bulgaria, officers mentioned this week. The portray dates from 1949 and might be value as much as €50m, in response to specialists cited by Bulgarian Nationwide Radio. Authorities haven’t launched an outline or {photograph} of the work.
The portray was found throughout a joint operation between Bulgarian and Greek anti-organised crime forces coordinated by Europol, in response to BNR. Sister raids additionally came about in Athens and on the island of Crete. Three Greek residents and one Bulgarian citizen have been detained over the operation. 5 extra work by what the BNR describes as “outstanding artists” have been found through the stings.
The alleged Pollock portray has been handed over to specialists from the Nationwide Artwork Gallery in Bulgaria, in response to Bulgarian information company Novinite. On the again of the canvas is a dedication to the American actress Lauren Bacall that seems to have been written by Pollock himself, Sofia’s deputy metropolis prosecutor Desislava Petrova mentioned throughout a press convention Wednesday (22 March), in response to the BTA, the nationwide Bulgarian Information Company.
“Devoted to my very proficient and expensive pal Lauren Bacall, Completely happy Birthday,” the inscription on the again of the portray reportedly reads. The message is dated 16 September 1949, which was Bacall’s twenty fifth birthday, prosecutors mentioned. Bacall was a famous artwork collector, and objects from her assortment of artwork and jewelry offered for a collective $3.6m at Bonhams New York in 2015 after her loss of life the yr earlier than. No Pollock work have been included within the sale.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the portray has ever been catalogued and has not been registered as lacking, in response to the BTA.
Essentially the most useful Pollock portray to ever promote at public sale, Quantity 17, 1951 (1951), fetched $53m ($61.2m with charges) through the first of two court-ordered auctions of Linda and Harry Macklowe’s artwork assortment in November 2021. Final Could, Pollock’s Quantity 31 (1949)—accomplished the identical yr because the alleged Pollock present in Bulgaria—offered at Christie’s New York for $47m ($54.2m with charges).
