Paintings and other works of art found in an abandoned Connecticut barn were worth millions of dollars.
Jared Whipple, a Waterbury mechanic, was notified by a contractor and retrieved the dirt-covered parts from a dumpster containing materials from a Watertown barn.
Whipple later found the works were by Francis Hines, an abstract expressionist who died in 2016 at the age of 96 and had kept his work in the barn, the Hearst Connecticut Media Group reported.
Hines was known for his “wrapping” pieces, in which fabric is wrapped around an object. His art has been compared to that of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who became famous for wrapping installations across Europe, including the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Hines has wrapped more than 10 buildings in New York, including the Washington Square Arch, JFK Airport and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, said art curator and historian Peter Hastings Falk.
Among the hundreds of pieces Whipple found were paintings, sculptures, and small drawings. Hastings Falk estimated that the “boxed” paintings could sell for about $22,000 each and Hines’ drawings for about $4,500.
Whipple showed some of the pieces at a gallery in Waterbury last year and recently decided to sell some of the art. He is collaborating with Hollis Taggart, a New York gallery, on exhibitions in New York and Connecticut that begin next month.
Whipple researched Hine’s work and contacted the artist’s family, who he said allowed him to keep and sell the art.
“I pulled it out of that dumpster and fell in love with it,” Whipple said. “I made a connection with that. My goal is to put Hines in the history books.”