A 1951 PAINTING BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN PURCHASED FOR $27.50 AND KEPT OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS SOLD FOR $128,700 ON 4.DECEMBER AT QUINN'S AUCTION GALLERIES IN FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA. TITLED 'THE STATESMAN', THE 18 BY 28 INCH OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT WAS CONSIGNED BY DC AREA RESIDENT ENID LIESS, A RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHER WHO, AS A YOUNG GIRL HAD STUDIED AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. IT WAS THERE THAT SHE LEARNED HOW TO IDENTIFY QUALITY ARTWORKS. SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1960s, LIESS ATTENDED AN ART AUCTION AT HER LOCAL TEMPLE, WHERE SHE HOPED TO FIND AFFORDABLE ART TO DECORATE HER NEW APARTMENT. WHEN A MODERN PAINTING OF A MAN IN A MILITARY JACKET CAUGHT HER EYE, LIESS DECIDED SHE HAD TO HAVE IT. 'IT WAS WHIMSICAL, AND I LOVED THE EARTH TONES', LIESS RECALLED. AT THE TIME, LIESS AND HER HUSBAND WERE NEWLYWEDS WITH LITTLE DISPOSABLE INCOME, SO SHE HAD A LIMIT OF $25 TO SPEND AT THE AUCTION. ALTHOUGH THE ARTIST WAS IDENTIFIED ON THE ARTWORK, NO ONE AT THE AUCTION, INCLUDING LIESS, KNEW WHO LICHTENSTEIN WAS. ACCORDINGLY, BIDDING ON THE PAINTING WAS OPENED LOWER THAN ON WORKS BY MOST OF THE LOCAL ARTIST WITH WHOM BIDDERS WERE MORE FAMILIAR. LIESS HAD A BID AT HER MAXIMUM JUST AS THE HAMMER WAS ABOUT TO FALL ON THE LICHTENSTEIN. THEN, AT THE LAST MOMENT, HER FRIEND UPPED THE ANTE TO $27.50. LIESS WAS FURIOUS AND REBUKED HER FRIEND, WHO QUICKLY INFORMED LIESS THAT IT WAS INTENDED AS A HOUSEWARMING GIFT FOR HER AND HER HUSBAND. LIESS TOLD HER FRIEND THAT SHE FELT $27.50 WAS TOO MUCH TO SPEND ON A GIFT AND GAVE HER $12.50 TO APPLY TOWARD THE PURCHASE PRICE. THE PAINTING WENT HOME WITH LIESS AND HUNG IN THE COUPLE'S NEW APARTMENT WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A COUCH TO KEEP IT COMPANY. WHILE SHE KNEW THE ARTWORK'S TITLE AND THE NAME OF THE ARTIST WHO PAINTED IT, LIESS WAS UNAWARE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN'S STATURE IN THE POP ART WORLD UNTIL SHE HAPPENED TO COME ACROSS A TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE ABOUT THE ARTIST A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER. HER DISCOVERY PROMPTED HER TO TAKE THE PAINTING TO THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM, WHERE EXPERTS CONFIRMED 'THE STATESMAN' WAS A GENUINE LICHTENSTEIN. SATISFIED WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE, SHE THOUGHT NOTHING MORE OF IT. IN 1968, LIESS AND HER HUSBAND MOVED THEIR FAMILY TO VIRGINIA. THE ARTWORK WENT WITH THEM, WHERE IT WAS DISPLAYED AND ENJOYED FOR THE NEXT 42 YEARS. THIS SUMMER LEISS DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO SELL THE PAINTING. SHE REACHED OUT TO MATTHEW QUINN OF QUINN'S AUCTION GALLERIES. QUINN ADVISED HER TO CONTACT JACK COWART, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ROY LICHTENSTEIN FOUNDATION, TO SEE IF HE WOULD AUTHENTICATE THE PAINTING. THE LICHTENSTEIN FOUNDATION KNEW WHO HAD ORIGINALLY PURCHASED 'THE STATESMAN' IN 1951 FROM THE JOHN HELLER GALLERY IN NEW YORK, BUT BEYOND THAT, THE OWNERSHIP TRAIL WAS A MYSTERY. THE FOUNDATION HAD BEEN TRYING FOR DECADES TO DETERMINE IT WHEREABOUTS. QUINN SAID THAT COWART'S IMPRIMATUR ON THE PAINTING, ALL THE ELEMENTS FOR AUCTION SUCCESS WERE NOW IN PLACE, A BANKABLE ARTIST, A LONG-MISSING ARTWORK AND INDISPUTABLE PROVENANCE. AT AROUND 11.30 ON THE MORNING OF THE AUCTION, 'THE STATESMAN' WAS ANNOUNCED TO A FULL HOUSE. BIDDING OPENED AT $20,000 AND SLOWLY INCREASED AGAINST AN ABSENTEE BID OF $40,000. THE BIDDING CONCLUDED AT $110,000 ON THE HAMMER. 'AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THAT'S A RECORD PRICE FOR A LICHTENSTEIN OF THAT PERIOD', SAID QUINN. APPROPRIATELY FOR A PAINTING TITLED 'THE STATESMAN', THE LICHTENSTEIN ARTWORK IS GOING TO REMAIN IN WASHINGTON DC.
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