Painting Covered in Bird Droppings Valued Between $2 and $3 Million

If you happen to be in New England or upstate New York and hear of an estate or a garage sale at a barn or old farmhouse, run, don’t walk, to check it out. We have heard of so many “lost” treasures, included vases and paintings, uncovered at these sales. The most recent example is a 3-foot-high oil painting by 17th-century Flemish painter Sir Anthony van Dyck found in a shed in Kinderhook, New York, a village with only 8,330 residents. It is reportedly one of only two of van Dyck’s live studies of such a scale that have survived. The discoverer, Albert B. Roberts, paid $600 for the art, which was covered in bird droppings. The late owner called himself a collector of ‘lost’ pieces, describing his collection as “an orphanage for lost art that had suffered from neglect.”

The painting is part of a “Master Week” series sale by Sotheby’s happening in New York City on January 26. The sketch depicts an elderly man sitting on a stool. It was painted sometime between 1615 and 1618 and is thought to have been a study for the artist’s painting “Saint Jerome with an Angel,” which now hangs in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Albert B. Roberts Foundation Inc., which provides financial support to artists and other creatives, among other charities. 

Photo: Sotheby’s