Minister says unnamed Jackson Pollock painting, seemingly dedicated to Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall and once owned by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, should remain in Bulgaria after being found in a police raid.
Bulgaria’s interim Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev has said an unnamed Jackson Pollock deemed to be an original and found during a police raid on March 21 should remain in the country.
“There’s a high chance of the painting remaining permanently in Bulgaria, since it was found here and will do everything that is in our capacity for this to be done,” he said on TV on Thursday.
Authorities had been alerted that the important and undeclared artwork was about to be sold to third parties.
Initially, the Sofia Prosecution said the painting has been in the country for several months and was worth an estimated 50 million euros. Demerdzhiev estimates the value as even higher.
The minister confirmed that the painting was part of Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s collection, possibly given to him by a diplomat, and that at some point, it was trafficked to Greece and then to Bulgaria.
But there’s also a mysterious backstory, as on the back a handwritten note reads: “Dedicated to my very talented and dear friend Lauren Bacall. Happy Birthday”, dated September 16, 1949.
This presumably refers to Hollywood star Lauren Bacall (1924-2014). There’s also a sign indicating that the painting was restored 20 years ago.
“Experts have seen the painting and say that it is authentic”, said the minister, although after the discovery experts have warned the media that the verification process will be long and complex.
“It’s impossible to conclude whether this is an original in such a short period of time,” art restoration specialist Emil Chushev told Nova TV on Thursday and added that the technology needed for the process is not even available in Bulgaria.
Two Greek and one Bulgarian citizens have been arrested in relation to the case which extends to a criminal group working between Bulgaria and Greece. The raid was done in coordination with the EU police agency Europol.
The authorities have not disclosed where the painting was found and in what conditions it was stored. The title of the work has also not been confirmed.
The news has raised speculation about how the authorities will preserve or analyse the painting, or whether it will be ever shown.
In 2020, the collection of the oligarch and former gambling tycoon Vassil Bozhkov, including more than 3,000 objects of both antique and contemporary art, was nationalised along with his businesses. It remains locked away by authorities and is still not integrated into any museum collection.
Pollock, from 1912 to 1956, was a US artist and major figure in the abstract impressionist movement and his paintings have told for tens and even hundreds of millions of US dollars.
Source: Balkan Insight