In Paris, an apartment sat locked up and untouched for 70 years. But it wasn't abandoned or empty. The rent was being paid, and the swanky pad was filled with furniture, books, and various works of art. One of those paintings, it turns out, was worth a lot of money.
A very buzzy story from the U.K.'s Telegraph explains that the valuable work of art is by Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. It recently sold for â¬2.1 million (around US$2.9 million) at auction. The painting's subject, a woman in a pink muslin evening dress, was apparently Boldini's muse, Marthe de Florian. That hunch was legitimized by another titillating discovery in the apartment: a scribbled love note from the artist to de Florian. The apartment belonged to de Florian's granddaughter, who recently passed away at age 91.
One might well ask, Why leave an apartment untouched and unused, but still pay for it every month? Good question. According to the Telegraph, the granddaughter left the apartment just before the start of World War II and never returned. After her recent death, experts were sent to catalogue the inventory.
As the Telegraph writes, Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris' 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900. Imagine their surprise when they saw, lying among the items, a painting worth millions.
Link: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/94058?fp=1
A very buzzy story from the U.K.'s Telegraph explains that the valuable work of art is by Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. It recently sold for â¬2.1 million (around US$2.9 million) at auction. The painting's subject, a woman in a pink muslin evening dress, was apparently Boldini's muse, Marthe de Florian. That hunch was legitimized by another titillating discovery in the apartment: a scribbled love note from the artist to de Florian. The apartment belonged to de Florian's granddaughter, who recently passed away at age 91.
One might well ask, Why leave an apartment untouched and unused, but still pay for it every month? Good question. According to the Telegraph, the granddaughter left the apartment just before the start of World War II and never returned. After her recent death, experts were sent to catalogue the inventory.
As the Telegraph writes, Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris' 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900. Imagine their surprise when they saw, lying among the items, a painting worth millions.
Link: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/94058?fp=1
