Sometimes, the least noticed things give us big surprises. It was one of the least favorite pieces of art of the family members and that is why it was feeding on dust in a dark room. But when Rue got married and decided to start his own family in a new house he took the painting along with himself. And that is when he decided to sell it off. His decision turned out to be amazing.
The man felt a shudder running through his body when he saw it. The heavy brow, stern mouth and piercing gaze was not an ordinary one. It was just the beginning of a roller coaster ride that had just unleashed itself. There was everything political unrest, assassins, revolution, and conspiracies in that one painting he was staring at in utter disbelief. There was a bewildering mystery lying behind this amazing painting that was soon going to come to the fore.
Rue Ferguson of Texas was not a big fan of art but he knew a hell about the things he adored. And this painting that had sprung back into his life was by no mean eye-pleasing, in fact, it made his heart skip a beat when he saw it. It was making him uncomfortable with every passing second. The man had never felt this way before. The painting was evoking the feeling of both curiosity and fear in him. There it was dangling on the wall reflecting a mystery coming there way.
There was not much he knew about this painting. He knew that the painting had been in his family for generations. It came into his family in 1940s when his great-grandparents brought it into their home. Interestingly, how did they find the painting is still a mystery as they never discussed it with anyone nor did anyone have any clue as to why did they get it?
Rue who had become used to of the presence of this weird vibes giving painting did not mind keeping it when was passed down to him by his father. He stored it in the storage and completely forgot about it. The painting had gotten used to it and was waiting for it to come to light. The day was not very far.
The painting returned to picture when Rue got married and relocated to a grander home with his better half. The painting had gone shabby and ugly with the time. There was no space for it in the new magnificent home so he decided to keep it in his office. Even in the office, he hid it behind the door.
It was clear by the expression of the man in the painting that he did not like the treatment meted out to him. Indifferent to that, Rue continued keeping it there till the day when the painting attracted his attention for one more time and this time the man felt strongly drawn by it.
He had never observed the content of the painting. All he knew was that it featured a man. He for the first time noticed that the man was donning a white linen suit, wide straw hat, and brown leather sandals. Whereas Rue was staring at the painting with a puzzling expression, the man in the painting shot a serious glance at him. He was frowning and looked stern. Rue felt a lump form in his throat.
An amazing idea had clicked him. He ran his finger through the edges of the painting. He touched all the grooves and whirls wondering what the artist would have thought while creating it. He realized that the artist had used oil paint to make it. Rue's thoughts got followed by hope. He wondered if this giant and old painting was worth some penny.
The painting had no history and definitely no future if it continues to perish in a corner. So, there was no harm in getting it evaluated. He thought of selling it off. Even though the painting itself would not procure any value, perhaps the frame would. He might get a few dollars in exchange.
Rue knew where exactly to go to find out its true value. He packed up the mysterious painting and took it to a popular reality show called Antiques Roadshow that was filming around Corpus Christi, Texas. The appraiser Colleene Fesko spotted the portray and gave his expert opinion on it. Her revelation left Rue speechless.
Rue did not know by then that his father too had once got the portray appraised. It happened more than a decade ago i.e. in 1998. His father was told that the signature imprinted on the painting was not in match with other signs placed on other artwork of the artist. The disclosure was made to him at the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA). However, this was not the strangest revelation he made. So according to them, it was a fake painting.
However, Colleene Fesko owned a different opinion about it. The experts at the San Antonio Museum of Art called it fake after scanning the signature down at bottom right-hand corner. Colleen picked that signature for her further revelation that was astonishing.
Colleene Fesko saw the signature and felt immediately drawn to it. The irregular signature conveyed the whole other thing to her. She scanned the signature for a while and then looked up towards Rue. And then she said something that made Rue jump out of his skin. She started, "Well, there are two extraordinarily intriguing words in an artist's catalog of paintings..."
Colleen pointed "And those words are 'whereabouts unknown'," Rue could not understand what does it mean. But the woman was not finished yet. She had more to disclose. "My understanding of the painting's history is that it was painted in 1904," she continued, pausing for effect, "...by Diego Riviera. And at that time, Diego Riviera, who was arguably one of the most important Latin-American 20th Century artists, was only 18 years old," she revealed.
At that time Rue could have easily been knocked down with a feather. The expert did not stop there. She said, "And there were, I think, only three or four paintings known from that early time...the painting is signed here as 'Diego Riviera', 1904. And what's interesting about the signature is it's a very young man's signature."
Rue's father when alive had gone obsessed with this portray. He had been so intrigued by this painting that he read all the autobiography and documents pertaining to hedonistic Mexican muralist. The man knew that the painting was not an ordinary one and so despite people telling him that it was just a regular one he kept on finding more about the artist and his part in the Mexican Revolution. The face of the man in portray was not ready to leave his mind. He even began to appear in his nightmares and dream both. No matter what others used to say, Rue's father kept on asserting that the painting was real.
Diego Riviera was quite famous in those days. He rose high as a political artist of the 20th Century. No doubt, he deserved the fame he received. Many of his work revolved around the Mexico workers including, laborers, the brick-layers, and farmers who according to Rivers formed the essence of society. that is the reason why his work is included in Mexico's national treasures. Now the question was how did Rue's father get his hand on this painting?
Diego Riviera was engaged in politics as well. The man had many experiences in his life be it of Delusion and Paranoia or truth. However, the real experience came when he came into contact with Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and hosted him at his home with his then-wife Frida Kahlo. It happened after he was exiled because of his anti-Stalinist views. After this Trotsky and Riviera constituted a Joint Commission of Inquiry into the Moscow Trials.
Three years later, Trotsky was murdered in Mexico City. He was in the Coyoacán neighborhood which is few steps away from Riviera and Kahlo's house. When the news reached his ears, he realized that the assassination was planned by Stalin and suspected himself to be his next target. One evening, Riviera was busy working on a portrait of Paulette Goddard actress and wife of Charlie Chaplin when a strange noise struck him.
The sound of screeching of brakes made its way to Riviera and Goddard. Goddard stepped out of the house to see who was that. The woman felt as if a bombshell had been dropped on her. There were many cars parked outside the car filled with men carrying guns. The woman ran towards a phone booth to inform Riviera about it.
Riviera had to think on his feet. He adjusted himself on the floor of his station wagon whereas his aide drove the car. Perhaps, the plainclothes policemen had come to catch him for Trotsky's assassination. He flew to San Fransisco just after the incident and stayed there for 5 months.
He told a close friend of his,“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.”
Diego Riviera in San Fransisco in the middle of all this chaos decided to voice his opinion by making one of the most renowned creations in America named, "Pan American Unity." The best thing about artists is that their
Fast forward many decades Rue stood dumbfounded before Colleen. She said, "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.''
Colleen further explained, "Well, I think you have something of a painting trifecta here." She had a lot of details to add, "The painting itself is by a very important artist, it has a terrific history-- were purchased in Mexico in 1930--and it's a very beautiful and important painting. So...trifectas usually pay pretty well." The man was rooted to the ground but the next revelation blew him out of his senses.
Finally, she made her final statement: "I would be putting a retail estimate on the painting of between $800,000 and $1,000,000." Rue just could not believe his ears. He questioned, "Seriously?"
A painting that once was considered worthless and a part of junk was going to earn Rue millions. the only reason why he did not throw it in the trash is that it handed down to him from his father. Who knew a painting of a weird looking man was worth millions. Rue was thanking is starts and the moment he thought of showing it to Colleen.
"My gosh...unbelievable..." Rue uttered in disbelief, " I did not expect that!" So can you guess the estimate for the Diego Riviera painting? It went up to $2,200,000. Mariel MacNaughton, the Antiques Roadshow executive stated, "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."
Rue explained, "More than likely I would imagine it needs to be in a museum where everybody can look at it," He continued, "Now I'm really scared to carry it around at this point." Rue knew that the safest place for this painting was this museum. So, El Albañil has got itself a place in the San Antonio Museum of Art, situated at the Museum Reach of the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Right now, it is the earliest piece of art by the renowned Marxist artist in the United States. Now the question is why is it getting reevaluated at twice rate of its former appraisal value? Colleen clarifies, "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."