illustr8r is very, very interested in putting in a bid.
She just needs to know if they’ll take iOTW bucks.
Norman Rockwell’s Franklin Up for Bid
For the sesquicentennial of American independence in 1926, the Saturday Evening Post commissioned a cover image of Benjamin Franklin. The magazine traces itself back to the Pennsylvania Gazette, which Franklin printed and published in the mid-1700s.
Norman Rockwell, already a star at what his time deemed mere illustration but previous centuries called history painting, portrayed Franklin at a desk with a writing quill. The face and especially the hair, loose and not under a wig, match how Franklin was often portrayed late in life, not at the height of his publishing career.
Rockwell’s illustration ran on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post’s May 29 issue. It became iconic Americana. Starting in 2005, the portrait was displayed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.
In January 2010, Bonhams Auction House offered the painting for an estimated price of $700,000 to $1,000,000. The owner was then the Carlos & Elena De Mattos Collection. This appears to be Carlos De Mattos, head of companies that rent filmmaking and theatrical equipment and winner of two Oscars for technical achievements.
That’s a lot of Franklins for a Franklin.
Better start a GoFrankMe campaign.
My sister gave me a print of “the Artist” by Norman Rockwell….it looks good next to my old, old, old Buffalo head….
@PHenry: For a million bucks, they can GoFrankThemselves.
I own the ‘dogs playing poker’ on velvet it’s on the wall in the garage. The wife won’t let it in the house.
All you need is an exchange for iotw bucks to whatever other fake legal tender bucks. Maybe an ICO (initial coin offering) tied to bitcoin could really drive some hype with some proprietary ponzi mandatory individual exchange. An exchange setup would be cheaper and easier to rip off all the investors to get this painting. Guarantee payouts and later say the russians hacked it.
He was a slave owner, RAYCISSSSSSS!
OBVIOUSLY A FAKE!
Norman Rockwell: 1894-1978
Ben Franklin: 1706-1790
Who do they think they are kidding?