“From Trash to Treasure: A New York Dumpster Diver Uncovers a Hidden Masterpiece by an 18th-Century Art Legend”
However, Romney was friends with Greville, and he painted more than one portrait of her. As such, some believe that the sketch may have been created for a different painting of the countess, one lost to time and surviving today only as an engraving.
Public DomainGeorge Romney’s self-portrait.
The drawing “is swiftly executed with simple, fluent, and seemingly spontaneous lines,” Lara L’vov-Basirov, the head of Old Master, British, and European Pictures at Roseberys, stated. Even as a preliminary sketch, it “offers a tantalizing and intimate glimpse into the artist’s working method.”
Though Romney is best known for his oil paintings, which frequently sell for tens of thousands of dollars, his simple sketches have appeared at auctions before. The drawing found in a Hudson dumpster is currently valued at £600 to £800 (roughly $760 to $1,000), but his other preliminary sketches have sold for several thousand dollars in the past.
As such, the George Romney drawing is truly a remarkable find. Though it’s unknown who once owned it — or why they decided to throw it away — the sketch is a rare look inside the portraitist’s artistic process. Thanks to an anonymous dumpster diver, it will be appreciated and preserved instead of lost in a New York landfill.
After reading about the 18th-century sketch that was found in a New York dumpster, look through these stunning photographs of street art from around the world. Or, peruse these fascinating images of shunga, Japanese erotic art that became popular in the Edo period.
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