Retired man's magic mushroom dream shattered as gifted '$10m' painting flops

19 November 2023 , 22:18

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The artist's work was famed for self-portaits (Image: Getty Images)

A retired dog walker's dreams were left shattered when a painting he was gifted and had thought was worth $10million completely flopped at auction.

Mark Herman said he had a dream after consuming psychedelic mushrooms that the painting by a famous artist could be worth $10million dollars. The 68-year-old from Manhattan, New York, was left devastated when the Chuck Close works brought in just $40,000.

While Herman was left devastated by the small sale, he recognised that it could be for the best. He said: "I'm really disappointed. But then, I think, if I had a lot of money it would put a lot of pressure on me." Chuck Close' most expensive work sold for $4.8m, with others bringing in sums between $3m and $2m.

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Herman, who lives off social security, was given the untitled six foot painting by someone whose dog he used to walk, former lawyer Isidore Silver. The two became friends when Herman started to walk Silver's toy poodle several years ago., the NYPost reports.

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The painting in question (Heritage Auctions)

Silver was said to have been given the painting by Close after he represented him in a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Massachusetts in the 1960s. Silver is said to have kept the painting rolled up in his closet and decided to gift it to Herman in March as his health began to decline.

"He basically said, 'take the painting'," Herman told the Times. A few days later, Silver passed away. After doing some research on the painting, Herman decided he would sell it. He contacted Sotheby's auction house who agreed to hold a sale.

Chuck Close died in 2021 (Getty Images)

Herman was faced with one problem. Close died in 2021, and the artist's estate had no record of the painting. This initially stalled the sale, and Herman was left with a $1,742 bill to pay the auctioneers. But his luck eventually turned when an archivist at the University of Massachusetts discovered a photograph of the painting in a 1967 issue of the student paper which confirmed the work was by Close.

The painting went on sale with Heritage Auctions in Dallas on Tuesday, and was estimated to fetch between $20,000 to $30,000 but it sold for $40,000 as an early bid. It was purchased by James Pincow alongside his father who decided to go for it as they were intrigued by the backstory and believed it was undervalued.

His work was worth millions (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Chuck Close, whose real name was Charles Thomas Close, was an American painter and visual artist. He also used photography to create abstract portraits of himself and others. His 'Big Self-Portrait' was one of his most famous works, and amassed as a 9ft high painting of a head around fifty times life-size. He also created a similarly large portrait of model Kate Moss in 2005.

Lydia Stephens