Notable paintings found in op shop
A Hastings retiree may have turned up the op shop find of his life after learning paintings he bought for a few dollars could be worth thousands.
Morgan Rainsford visits a Hawke’s Bay secondhand store almost every day but he did not want to name the place because it’s his favourite spot for picking up undiscovered treasures.
In recent visits he’s found paintings he thought were by notable New Zealand artists Russell Clark and Philip Clairmont.
With the help of Stuff’s inquiries, it appears that at least one set of paintings are genuine.
Clark was a well-known mid-20th century Canterbury-based artist who counted some of New Zealand’s most influential art figures as students such as Colin McCahon and Doris Lusk.
On one of his daily op shop excursions Rainsford found two paintings with Clark’s signature in the corner and he learned that he was a well-known New Zealand art figure.
One of the Clark paintings had a dealer sticker on the back, which helped confirm the paintings were real and could be worth thousands of dollars.
Richard Thomson of prominent Auckland art dealership International Art Centre said he believed the Clarks were real and he “vaguely recalled” selling them back in the 1980s.
“They are genuine stickers, and from what I can ascertain, they are genuine pieces indeed.
“They are fairly minor examples but still sought after nonetheless.”
He estimated they could be worth between $1500-2500 each at auction.
The highest price recorded for the sale of a Russell Clark painting was $220,000 in 2021.
Rainsford said it was “amazing” to hear that he was likely in possession of some special artworks that he had picked up for $4-$5 each.
“That’s very good news. I thought to myself I’ve just had them lying around, so I’ll have to look after them properly,” he said.
Rainsford planned on selling them and hoped to be able to use the money to travel to Australia to see his son.
“It would also be helpful to get some stuff for my knee. I’ve got a very bad knee.”
The provenance of a coloured linocut print that Rainsford thought was by Philip Clairmont was decidedly less certain.
When Stuff showed images of the work to the artist’s son and trustee of his estate, Orlando Clairmont, he said he was “100% confident” that it was not his father’s work, suspecting it could have been done by a student copying his style.
“Looks to be inspired by his work though.”
He said it would have been “quite exciting” if it had turned out to be another unknown example of a “Clairmont ‘Chair' linocut”.
Rainsford has not given up hope that it could be genuine and invited an expert second opinion.
Clairmont pieces have been known to sell for as much as $300,000.