Article June 6, 2011 Issue

Look beneath the surface

By Michael Mooslin

“Sold . . . for $250, to the gentleman in the back!”

Years back, listening to the radio while driving, I heard a story about an art collector bidding on a painting at a local auction. From the markings on the back of the canvas, the man had a hunch that the painting he was bidding on could actually be covering a very old and perhaps valuable masterpiece. He took the uninteresting painting by an unknown artist home from the auction house and began at once to remove the painted surface with a mild solution, breaking down the oil paint. As he worked on one corner of the painting, the signature of a famous artist started to appear. He had bought a masterpiece!

Imagine being that person. Would we concern ourselves with the subject of the painting covering the masterpiece? What if it was a beautiful painting? Frightful or hideous? That would be irrelevant. We’d focus solely on uncovering the hidden masterpiece. And we wouldn’t have to see the whole picture to know there was something valuable beneath the surface. Further, viewing the gradual exposure as “evolving” wouldn’t correctly describe the process. The masterpiece wouldn’t evolve. As a complete work, it would only need revealing.