Century-Old Connecticut Barn Discovery: Forgotten Painting Unveils Hidden $7 Million Secret at Auction
Ultimately, Frans Post’s “View from Olinda, Brazil” was revealed in all its splendor, just as it had looked more than 300 years before.
Now, more than a quarter-century later, the painting has been sold again. Before auction, the 23″x35″ painting had an initial estimated selling price of $6 million to $8 million, and it eventually sold at Sotheby’s for $7 million. This selling price was a new record for Post, whose previously highest-value work sold for $4.5 million in 1997.
Why Post’s Experience In Brazil Made Him One Of His Era’s Most Unique Artists
Wikimedia CommonsFrans Post arrived in Brazil in 1637 at age 24 and lived there for the next eight years.
Frans Post was born in 1612 in the Dutch town of Haarlem, before making his way to what was then a Dutch colony in Brazil at the age of 24. Post’s time in Brazil would leave a lasting impression on his art.
It was during his eight years in Brazil that Post would be influenced to create paintings depicting the region’s landscapes and people, even after returning home to the Netherlands. Post became one of the first European artists to use the New World as his inspiration.
Originally, Post’s audience consisted of people who had been to Brazil and wanted an accurate depiction of life in the colony. However, over time, this focus shifted and people began to desire idealized depictions of Brazil rather than accurate native landscapes.
Wikimedia CommonsFrans Post’s other painting known as “View of Olinda,” this one from 1662.
“View of Olinda, Brazil, with Ruins of the Jesuit Church,” represents the phase in Post’s career of presenting exotic imagery of Brazilian landscapes to his audience. Works like this painting were valuable even during Post’s lifetime.
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