From successful art heists to modern artists with hidden identities, here are 10 unsolved
mysteries of the art world….
10.
La Bella Principessa
One of the most enthralling stories of an unidentified piece of art is that of ‘La
Bella Principessa’.
In 1998 Kate Ganz, an art dealer from New York, purchased this study, that depicted
the head and shoulders of a young woman, for just under $22,000 from Christie’s in New
York.
She sold it, in 2007, to Peter Silverman, a Canadian collector, for a similar price-
saying at the time that it was based on a number of paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Silverman commissioned a series of tests on the piece, and in 2008 it was officially announced
that it was an original by Da Vinci himself - a verdict that was corroborated by a number
of experts- and re-valued at 150 million dollars.
This wasn’t the end of the story, though, because a renowned art forger came forward
and claimed it to be one of his own works!! Silverman took the unusual step of offering
the conman 10,000 dollars to recreate it again!!
So far this has not been done.
Different factions of the art world remain uncertain whether ‘La Bella Principessa’’
is truly a work by Da Vinci, so it remains in limbo until comprehensive proof is found.
9.
The Image of Jane Austen
She’s one of the most famous British authors ever, having written Sense and Sensibility,
and Pride and Prejudice- but Jane Austen is also the subject of one of the art world’s
longest running mysteries.
It all relates to a painting, known as the ‘Rice’ portrait, and whether it is of
a young Austen, or someone else altogether.
The painting itself is claimed to have been painted in the late 1780’s, when the author
was just 13.
If it is legitimate, it would be the only oil painting of the author in existence.
The problem, though, is that is wasn’t signed, or dated.
Furthermore, a stamp has been found on the rear of the canvas which suggests a date in
the early 19th century- when she would have been in her twenties.
The owners, of course, are steadfast in their belief that the image is of Jane Austen, but
many in the art world think it’s of someone completely different.
This rumor has meant the portrait has failed to sell every time it’s put up for auction.
And now for number 8, but first do you know where the largest art theft in world history
took place?
Let us know your answer in the comments below!!
The answer is coming up!
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8.
Who owns “Dancer Making Points”?
This stunning image, painted by Degas, is valued at a whopping 10 million dollars.
It’s not entirely clear, though, who the rightful owner of the portrait is, as it seems
to have changed hands in rather mysterious ways.
By the way...are there any fans of the show Fake or Fortune out there?
Its provenance follows a similar story to many other artworks.
It was originally purchased from a Parisian gallery in 1927, and taken to America around
1940 to be safe from the war.
Here, it was purchased by Huguette Clark, but it seems unclear how it left her possession
to become part of another collection.
She spent the last 20 years of her life living in a hospital before dying in 2011 at the
age of 104.
Her attorney realised the Degas was missing a year after she had moved out of her 5th
Avenue apartment but, to protect her privacy, Clark refused to file a report of its disappearance.
There were suspicions that another resident of the building, or a worker, had stolen it,
and it eventually turned up in the Peter Findlay gallery, just down the road from where she
had lived, a few years later.
Since the painting wasn’t registered as stolen, the gallery bought it from a young
man who said his family had owned it for years, and then sold it on to Henry Bloch.
Upon hearing about this, Huguette Clark contacted Bloch, and they came to an agreement that
the painting should be donated to the Nelson-Atkins museum in Kansas city, which the Bloch’s
were patrons of.
Relatives have now argued against this decision, though, claiming Clark was not of sound mind
to make such a decision.
This left the ownership of the painting in complete limbo, as well as the fortune she
left behind.
7.
Who was the Girl with a Pearl Earring?
The girl with a pearl earring, painted in 1665 by Johannes Vermeer, is one of the most
famous images in the art world.
It’s from the Dutch Golden Age, and is often voted as the most beautiful painting in the
Netherlands- but one question remains, who was the subject?
Vermeer is thought to have mainly used members of his own family to pose, so the most commonly
suggested identity of the girl with a pearl earring is his eldest daughter, Maria.
She would have been about 12 at the time it was painted, but apart from the possible age
similarity, there’s no further evidence that it was her.
(It’s kind of hard to tell).
Another possibility is Magdalena Van Ruijven, the only daughter of Vermeer’s patron, Pieter
Van Ruijven.
She was friends with Maria, and a similar age.
It would make perfect sense that the artist would have been commissioned to paint an image
of her.
Now, for those of you who have read the book or seen the movie, you’ll be expecting me
to suggest Griet, the family’s nanny, as the final possibility.
The problem is that she was a completely fictitious character created to give life to the story,
and there’s absolutely no record of her existing at all.
The truth is, we’ll likely never know who it actually is, but the art world seems to
agree that it’s one of the two daughters.
6.
How did Van Gogh Die?
Many people consider Van Gogh one of the greatest painters of all time.
He’s certainly one of the most famous, even if it’s just because everyone knows about
how he cut off his own ear in a moment of insanity.
The true mystery of the artist behind the Starry Night, Sunflowers, and Self-portrait
with bandaged ear, though, is how did he die?
In 1889, at the age of 36, his mental health was deteriorating.
He spent time in hospital, which seemed to help him recover, but he died in the early
morning of the 29th July, 1890, due to a gunshot wound to the stomach.
But who shot him?
He purportedly returned to the inn the night before, holding his stomach.
It was long thought that he had, in fact, shot himself- whether purposely or accidentally,
and that he was ashamed, and didn’t think the would was so severe, so kept it under
wraps.
A recent investigation, has suggested that he was actually shot by two boys that he knew,
who had a malfunctioning gun.
This evidence is far from comprehensive, though, so the mystery remains as to what happened
on that fateful evening, in events that took one of the most influential artists there
have ever been.
5.
The Battle of Anghiari
The Battle of Anghiari is a painting by one of the world’s most famous artists- Leonardo
Da Vinci.
He was commissioned to paint it in 1503 for the Great Council Hall in Florence, but the
problem is- every image you may have ever seen of the painting is done by other artists,
because the original has been lost.
This is because Leonardo used experimental techniques when painting it so, as it faded,
it was covered over with other depictions.
It has long been thought, though, that the remnants of his original work still lie hidden
within the walls of the building and, in 2012, a team using forensic techniques found evidence
that it does, indeed, still exist on an inner structure beneath a fresco by Vasari.
Due to disagreements about whether the original should be uncovered, or not, no further work
has been done to find it.
It still remains a mystery- is the image truly still there, or has it worn away so much that
it’s unrecognisable?
4.
The Biggest Heist in History
I’m sure you, like me, love a good heist story, but the truth behind the biggest heist
ever carried out is still to be uncovered.
For those of you who guessed, it took place in 1990 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
in Boston.
Security guards opened the doors to two policemen who were responding to a disturbance but,
to their surprise, the cops handcuffed them!
Too late, they realized they were art thieves.
Over the following minutes, the intruders stole 13 different artworks by the likes of
Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas- with a total value of more than half a billion dollars
at today’s prices.
No trace of the artworks, or the thieves, has ever been found- despite there being a
ten million dollar reward for any information.
If you know anything, speak now!!
The FBI says some of the artworks were being offered for sale in the 2000’s in Philadelphia,
and they’ve searched as far as Ireland for clues.
It’s a high likelihood that the paintings are in the hands of criminals who use them
as currency, since valuable artefacts like this are seen as easier to secure and transport
than cold, hard, cash.
They are now lost somewhere in the black market.
3.
The Identity of Banksy
Art goes hand in hand with the ideas of pushing the limits and exploring new ideas, and Banksy
definitely lives up to this to this.
He first came onto the scene in 1990, as a freehand graffiti artist in Bristol, in the
UK, but since then he’s moved on to stencilled works, and is renowned for his humour, satire,
and anti-establishment ethos.
He’s held large exhibitions around the world, and even opened a theme park called Dismaland.
Despite his high profile, he still keeps to his roots and reveals stencilled graffiti
works worldwide.
So what’s the big mystery??
His identity!
No one knows who he is!
Quite a few people have been suggested as Banksy- ranging from Robert Del Naja, the
frontman of Massive Attack, Jamie Hewlett, the artist for Tank Girl and the Gorillaz,
or even that Banksy isn’t just one person, but a team of at least 7.
For now, no one can be sure- but someday all will be revealed, and it’ll be one of the
biggest revelations of the modern art-world that there’s ever been.
2.
The Original Mona Lisa
Leonardo’s Mona Lisa is, without doubt, the most recognisable portrait that’s ever
been made.
It’s housed in the Louvre museum in Paris and is much smaller in person than you’d
expect.
There’s questions about who the person depicted in the painting is, but more curious is whether
the one on display is even a likeness of a real person in the first place.
Reflective light scans of the image have found something quite interesting- that the canvas
actually contains 3 different paintings!!
It was not unusual for artists to reuse canvas to perfect their techniques, and new technologies
allow researchers to see beneath the layers of paint.
There’s further evidence that Da Vinci scratched out and edited each work, and used their features
to incorporate them into the new versions he painted on top.
While the original image on the canvas could well be Lisa Gherardini, who most suggest
was the model for the famous painting, the final version looks very different, so could
be an amalgamation of his original model, and alterations he decided to make.
Again, we’ll probably never know the full story behind the Mona Lisa- something that
only goes to make the image all the more enticing and intriguing.
1.
The Object in “David’s” Hand
Michelangelo’s “David” is the most recognisable sculpture in the world and, beyond controversies
in some places about the unashamed nakedness of the piece, there’s a mystery surrounding
it, and how complete it actually is.
In particular the hand.
It’s overly large in comparison with the rest of his body, and bulging with veins.
For this to be present in a work by a master of the craft, it makes sense that this is
done for a reason.
That reason, some suggest, is because the hand should be holding a deadly weapon.
“David” is the one from the story of David and Goliath, and the theory goes that this
hand should be holding the sling that he used to fell the giant.
The statue already has the pouch of the sling in his left hand, above the shoulder, and
the straps go all the way round to near his right hand.
Is this where he should be holding the handle?
Others suggest it could simply be a stone he was holding, and it’s not entirely clear
why it’s no longer there.
Either way, it seems as if the David is incomplete, and will be a continuing mystery forever.
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