Entertainment
Published November 19, 2023, 3:36 a.m. ET
An abstract painting by artist Chuck Close was gifted to a dog handler in New York and later sold at auction for just $40,000. Getty Images
A former New York City dog walker thought he was getting $10 million when a painting by a famous artist whose work sells for millions of dollars ended up in his possession and was auctioned off this week.
The retiree, who lives on Social Security, was devastated when the painting sold for a paltry $40,000.
Mark Herman, 68, of Manhattan, said he had a vision during his time on psychedelic mushrooms that the painting by the late abstract artist Chuck Close would be worth $10 million.
But that drug-induced dream shattered when he watched the work sell in Dallas on Tuesday for a fraction of that, The New York Times reported.
“I’m really disappointed,” he admitted. “But I think if I had a lot of money it would put a lot of pressure on me.
“And that’s the last thing I need,” he added.
According to the newspaper, Herman received the unnamed, 6-foot-tall abstract nude from former attorney Isidore Silver, with whom he became close friends after he began walking his toy poodle about six years ago.
Silver, who had represented Close in a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Massachusetts in the 1960s, had mentioned in passing to Herman that he kept one of the artist’s works rolled up in a closet.
Herman received the unnamed, 6-foot-tall abstract nude from former attorney Isidore Silver, with whom he became close friends after he began walking his toy poodle about six years ago.Heritage Auctions
In March, as the 87-year-old Silver’s health deteriorated, he offered the painting to the dog’s handler.
“He basically said, ‘Take the painting,'” Herman told the Times.
Days later, Silver died.
Herman researched Close and found that one of the artist’s paintings had sold for a whopping $4.8 million. He contacted the auction house Sotheby’s, which agreed to sell the painting.
“I was on cloud nine,” he said of the day he turned it in and his hopes of making eight figures arose.
However, Close died in 2021 and there was no record in the artist’s estate of the painting Herman wanted to sell.
The day before it was to be auctioned, Sotheby’s pulled it and paid Herman a $1,742 bill to prepare the canvas.
However, a discovery by a University of Massachusetts archivist kept Herman’s hopes for a new home for him and his girlfriend alive. According to the Times, Caroline White discovered a photo of the painting in a 1967 edition of the student newspaper, confirming that it was Close’s work.
With his enthusiasm restored, Herman strapped in to watch live from his apartment as the painting landed at Heritage Auctions in Dallas on Tuesday.
The auction house had estimated the selling price at $20,000 to $30,000 – but before the auction began, it had already received a pre-sale price of $40,000.
When Close died in 2021, there was no record in the artist’s estate of the painting Herman wanted to sell.Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan
Lot 77070 would ultimately be there without any further bids.
The buyer, Long Island attorney James Pincow, told the outlet that he bought the painting with his father because they thought it was undervalued and were fascinated by the backstory.
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