EFTA00772593.pdf

From: "Al seckel" To: "Jeffrey Epstein" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Fw: Newton portrait Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:42:18 +0000 Jeff, It has been authenticated many times in person. I have never had a single expert in 17th century English portraiture question it, and that includes leading Kneller scholars, experts from both Christies and Sothebys, experts at the National Portrait Gallery, Huntington Art Collections, as well as leading art dealers, who specialize in this area. I had to go through this authentication process. When I first got this painting, this process had not been done at all. I started that authentication process well over two years ago, and it was during the authentication process, where we tracked down the provenance, the fact that it is not a copy, but a variant, etc. It was a fun journey. It specifically stated in the expert documentation, that it was NOT a studio copy, but in contrast to many works attributed to Kneller, which were done by his studio, that this portrait was done ENTIRELY in his hand. They can tell by brush strokes. My portrait was examined personally (and compared to the Portsmouth copy) by several people from Sotheby's, including by the head of their painting department in London. Furthermore, it was also personally examined side by side by London's leading Kneller expert at the Portsmouth estate. I was there. It was at this comparison that he (and others all share the same opinion) that it is impossible to know which variant is the first one. They are not identical, but called in the trade artist variants. The signature and title on the Portsmouth copy was added later. Because, it is a variant, and where Kneller was experimenting with some different shading, coloring, etc., it is difficult to tell which one came first. The experts could not tell. My copy was a previously unknown variant, and it is why the National Portrait Gallery, as well as the Huntington were very interested in it from a historical point of view. They wanted pictures and I think someone there is going to do an article about it. From: Jeffrey Epstein <[email protected]> To: Al seckel < Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 7:22:32 AM Subject: Re: Fw: Newton portrait is it a copy of the portsmouth, done bu his studio..? why would he do two of the same? has it been authenticated ? , my person said that no one at the houses has actually seen it„ but was told about it and had said if it were true... ? then it might be worth.. did christies or sothebys experts actually have it , in their possession for a while.. they said they were going to speak to the kneller person.. thanks On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Al seckel < > wrote: No offense Jeff, that's clearly ridiculous. I paid in the six figures for it, and have been offered by dealers $600k by a dealer, which I turned down a long time ago... I like the portrait, have not made an active effort to sell it, and that's that... Yet, I don't want to "hussle" you in selling you my possesions or other things (as it makes me feel uncomfortable), I just want to do some real science, get supported in that, etc. What can we do to achieve this... That's the goal. EFTA00772593 From: Jeffrey Epstein <[email protected]> To: Al seckel < Sent Monday, July 6, 2009 11:58:26 AM Subject Re: Fw: Newton portrait sorry, Al , i spoke to my art advisors „ they said not even 100k„ and that would be generous.. he is not a good artist. , if it weren't newton, less than 15k On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 2:11 PM, Al seckel > wrote: I have these appraisals mainly in email I received from Graham Arader, one of the biggest high end dealers in art/rare books in New York, Philadelphia, etc, and someone I have done a lot of business with over the years (as I used to collect very high end antiquarian books and manuscripts). This is an email from early on BEFORE I managed to get all the scholarship done verifying the issues in the description I sent you. Again, this is BEFORE the collapse of the art market. I have a variety of these types of emails, but I didn't seriously follow through, as I wasn't so interested in selling the painting. http://www.aradetgalleries.com/ The next email will be from Sotheby's... -- Forwarded Message ---- From: W. Graham Arader III To: Al seckel Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 7:43:42 AM Subject: Re: Newton portrait I am more of a slow turn kind of a guy. If you want to put 50% the money up and go for a double I am happy to help you with all the obvious places that should have this pntg. Make sure you get an accurate condition report and a letter from the leading expert on Kneller. Otherwise you are wasting your time. I will sell 5m in painting this month so this is something I do very well but I really DONT do portraits like this. If everything you say is accurate, you truly have a $2,000,000 picture. It is grossly underpriced. It might be something taking your time on g -- Original Messa e From: "Al seckel" To: "W. Graham Arader III" Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:30 AM Subject: Re: Newton portrait > Thanks for the tips. I was looking to make a quick > turn. You can too, if you are interested. Although he > was not a great artist, he certainly was an important > one, painting portraits of all the important people at EFTA00772594 > the time, i.e., Pepys, King James, etc. According to > the National Portrait Gallery, "Kneller was the > greatest master of the English baroque portrait. As > Court painter to four sovereigns, he dominated English > art for more than thirty years." > "W. Graham Arader IIP" > wrote: » Sounds great. Well done. >> This is a 2m picture but it is not what I do. It it » very close to what I do » but not quite what I do. >> » Try the Denver Art Museum. They have a huge » collection (and are still » building) of art relating to England and of course » the British Center at » Yale is huge on this. Amy Meyers is the director » there. » And then there are all the science people. If it is » as impt as you say, I » would make 2m easily at auction. » Kellner was a very good but not great artist >> g > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com EFTA00772595