Questions Surface Over Painting on eBay
S A C R A M E N T O, Calif., May 10 -- A California lawyer who listeda painting on online auction site eBay for 25 cents and saw itgo for more than $135,000 has agreed to put the deal on holdpending certification of the painting’s authenticity.
After admitting late Tuesday that he made up parts of thedescription of the painting — which bidders hoped was anundiscovered work by the late modernist master RichardDiebenkorn — seller Ken Walton agreed to have the itemprofessionally evaluated.
“I am going nuts. I feel like this is getting out ofcontrol and everyone is blowing it out of proportion,” Waltonwas quoted as saying in today’s Sacramento Bee.
Walton, who advertised the item on eBay under the alias“Golfpoorly,” did not respond to requests for comment fromReuters or a number of other organizations.
But he did talk to the Bee and to the New York Times, andsaid that portions of the story he used to describe thepainting’s provenance were made up.
Seeking Expert Advice
The buyer, Dutch software executive Rob Keereweer, said heand Walton had agreed to seek expert advice before moving aheadwith the transaction.
“We will bring in an expert opinion from the outside beforefinalizing the deal,” Keereweer told the Times. “Both he and Iwant to be sure. If it is authentic, then we will proceed — that’s a fair deal.”
The sale of the artwork — which Walton described as a“great big wild abstract art painting” — surprised a numberof art experts who said Keereweer was taking a major gamble inoffering so much money for a painting he had never seen.
Walton never mentioned Diebenkorn in the online descriptionof the painting. Instead, he said he had found it at a Berkeley,California, garage sale and that his wife refused to let it inthe house because it looks “like it was done by a nut case.”
Misleading Ad?
Walton also included a close-up photo of the painting toillustrate what he said was a hole left by his child’s tricycle
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