Children Under a Palm Tree
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''Children Under a Palm'' (or sometimes ''Children Under a Palm Tree'') is a water colour painting by Winslow Homer. It was featured in the second episode of the BBC TV series '' Fake or Fortune?''.


Origin

The work was painted in the Bahamas in 1885. It is in watercolour and pencil. It measures 14 inches by 20 inches and depicts the three children of
Sir Henry Blake Sir Henry Arthur Blake (; 8January 184023February 1918) was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong from 1898 to 1903. Early life, family and career Blake was born in Limerick, Ireland. He was the son of Peter Blake of Corb ...
, the colonial governor of the Bahamas at the time. They were attending a fancy dress party in Arabian costume. The party was also attended by Winslow Homer who was asked by Lady Blake to sketch the children. The central figure is Olive Blake. On either side of her are her younger brothers, Maurice and Arthur. Olive subsequently married John (Jack) Arbuthnot who wrote some of the Beachcomber columns. In her later years, Olive was described by one of her grandsons as being "a formidable looking woman of whom I was somewhat frightened". The painting was not framed and was subsequently included among a number of works by Lady Blake who was herself an amateur artist. The family believed the painting was by her. After colonial service in Jamaica and Hong Kong, the Blakes retired to
Myrtle Grove Myrtle Grove can refer to: * Myrtle Grove, Bingley, United Kingdom * Myrtle Grove, Youghal, Republic of Ireland * Myrtle Grove, Florida, U.S. * Myrtle Grove (Easton, Maryland), home on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places * Myrtle Grove, No ...
in
Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...
,
County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
, Ireland.


''Antiques Roadshow''

In 1987, the painting, along with a work by Lady Blake and other material related to the Blake family, was found by Tony Varney while fishing in Ireland. It was found just outside a rubbish dump, three miles from Myrtle Grove. He gave the painting to his daughter Selina Varney. In 2008, they took it to a recording of '' Antiques Roadshow'' where it was identified by
Philip Mould Philip Jonathan Clifford Mould (born March 1960) is an English art dealer, London gallery owner, art historian, writer and broadcaster. He has made a number of major art discoveries, including works of Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony Van Dyck and T ...
as a work by Homer and valued at £30,000.


Ownership controversy

The painting was featured in the second episode of the BBC TV programme, '' Fake or Fortune?'' Mr. Mould took it to New York to be sold by
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
. They confirmed the attribution and valued it at over $100,000. It was included in their sale on 21 May 2009. It appeared in the catalogue without any reference to having been found; it was described simply as "private collection, 1987". A preview of the sale appeared in the ''Daily Telegraph''. Miss Varney was flown to New York to observe the sale. On the day before the sale, Simon Murray (the great grandson of Sir Henry Blake) claimed ownership of the painting on behalf of the family. Tom Christopherson, European General Counsel for Sotheby's, said that the Murrays were contacted by Sotheby's, as part of routine
due diligence Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a l ...
, prior to the auction. Sotheby's were told that the family had no record of owning a painting by Winslow Homer. Mr. Murray, however, holds that Sotheby's never discussed the painting with his family and that his mother was unaware of the sale until she saw a report in the ''Telegraph''. Mr. Murray initially offered Miss Varney 25% of the sale proceeds as a "finder's fee". She rejected this offer and the parties initially agreed to continue the sale and resolve the dispute afterwards. On the day of the sale, however, Mr. Murray changed his mind. He offered 30% as a finder's fee, but without an agreement, he would no longer support the sale of the painting at auction. Miss Varney rejected the revised offer and Sotheby's followed their normal policy, withdrawing the painting because they could not guarantee a good title to anyone who bought the work. The painting was withdrawn with only three lots to go - unusually close to the sale time. At a later date, the painting was placed on the
Art Loss Register Art Loss Register (ALR) is the world's largest database of stolen art. A computerized international database that captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques, and collectibles, the ALR is a London-based, independent, for-profit corpor ...
, operated by a commercial company based in London which charges a fee to register stolen paintings. The family believe it disappeared from Myrtle Grove after a series of robberies in the 1980s, although Philip Mould notes that there was no crime reported. According to Mr. Murray, his family didn't know that the painting was stolen until it was put up for auction at Sotheby's. Mr. Murray conducted further research among his family's papers and claimed to have found a letter which described the circumstances under which the painting was produced. At the date of transmission of the programme (26 June 2011), ownership was still the subject of a legal dispute. In October 2013, the ''London Evening Standard'' reported that Shirley Rountree (Simon Murray's mother and a descendant of Sir Henry Blake) was suing Sotheby's for "return" of the painting. Sotheby's responded that ownership of the painting was still disputed and should be settled in the courts. In November 2013, a new claimant emerged. Massachusetts native Clifford Schorer said the painting was used as security for a loan he made to Selina Varney (now Rendall) and that he was now entitled to it, the Blake family having failed to make a claim in a US court. A barrister represented Selina Rendall in the title dispute with Shirley Rountree (''Rountree v Rendall'') turning on the English and Irish laws of: *finding lost, mislaid, and abandoned property; *limitation, by the automatic time-barring of claims — statute of limitations or more discretionary deeming of time to have run out — laches (equity). As of 2018, a court battle regarding ownership of the painting was still ongoing.Children under a Palm Tree 2018
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Children Under A Palm Tree Watercolor paintings Paintings by Winslow Homer 1885 paintings Paintings of children Fake or Fortune?