A Painting Trifecta

Colleen further explained, “Well, I think you have something of a painting trifecta here.” She had a lot of details to add,  “The painting itself is by a very important artist, it has a terrific history– were purchased in Mexico in 1930–and it’s a very beautiful and important painting. So…trifectas usually pay pretty well.” The man was rooted to the ground but the next revelation blew him out of his senses.  

The Mind-Blowing Price

Finally, she made her final statement: “I would be putting a retail estimate on the painting of between $800,000 and $1,000,000.” Rue just could not believe his ears. He questioned, “Seriously?”

Not A Trash

A painting that once was considered worthless and a part of junk was going to earn Rue millions. the only reason why he did not throw it in the trash is that it handed down to him from his father. Who knew a painting of a weird looking man was worth millions. Rue was thanking is starts and the moment he thought of showing it to Colleen.    

Worth Millions

“My gosh…unbelievable…” Rue uttered in disbelief, ” I did not expect that!” So can you guess the estimate for the Diego Riviera painting? It went up to $2,200,000. Mariel MacNaughton, the Antiques Roadshow executive stated, “It’s very rare to see works of Rivera’s that old. It’s not a painting that was sitting in a museum for people to see every day.”    

Place Of Honor

Rue explained, “More than likely I would imagine it needs to be in a museum where everybody can look at it,” He continued, “Now I’m really scared to carry it around at this point.” Rue knew that the safest place for this painting was this museum. So, El Albañil has got itself a place in the San Antonio Museum of Art, situated at the Museum Reach of the San Antonio Riverwalk.  

Other Valuable Artworks

Right now, it is the earliest piece of art by the renowned Marxist artist in the United States. Now the question is why is it getting reevaluated at twice rate of its former appraisal value? Colleen clarifies, “Market-wise, 17 different paintings by the artist have sold for more than $1 million at auction; most recently, ‘The Rivals’ from the Rockefeller collection sold for a record-breaking $9.7 million after a pre-sale estimate of $5 million to $7 million.”