Valuable painting returns to town after 11 years in storage
Afghans, a painting by Alexandre Iacovleff. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – A valuable painting that hung unnoticed in a Massachusetts school for decades is returning to town after 11 years in storage and following a fight over whether to sell it or keep it.
The Sun Chronicle reports the piece by Russian artist Alexandre Iacovleff (1887-1938), titled, Afghans, will be returned to North Attleborough on Tuesday and displayed in the police station lobby.
The painting was donated to the town in 1951 and hung in a school until 2007 when a resident brought its value to the attention of officials.
The town wanted to sell it and use the money to fund art education. It could have fetched as much as $2 million at auction.
A relative of the donors objected, saying the painting was a gift meant to be enjoyed.
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Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, http://www.thesunchronicle.com
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AP-WF-07-29-18 1544GMT
