Another "collector" horror story

The very talented DC area artist Cindy Ann Coldiron read my post on the collector horror story and then she sent me the following note:

Your story on the art sale and shipment reminded me of a long ago incident that occurred to me.

In this case I was on the buying side and the artist/painter had no role in it.

I was a young new attorney to the area and read that the Haitian embassy was having a painting exhibit/sale with part of the purchase price going towards charity. I really loved the exhibition photo that appeared in the Washington Post - it was a brightly colored cat in the tall grass - and thus I made a point to attend .

When I walked in I was handed a very clear list of instructions explaining the process for purchasing a piece of art. One was told not to remove any painting from the wall but to pay first and then let a staff member remove it after the purchase was done.

I paid $500 for the piece but when the staff member went to get the painting, it was not on the wall. She began to run around the room looking to see if anyone had it. She eventually found that an older gentleman had it in his possssion and this gentleman was rather displeased that he had to give it back.

She almost had to pry it from his hand!

I then looked some more around the room at some of the other art while she quickly wrapped it up and then I left with my purchase.

I was about a block away from the embassy when I had a feeling that I needed to look and check the painting. I unwrapped it and I saw that there was a big hole that had been punched/pushed through it.

Clearly the "gentleman" had punched his thumb through the painting (I guess he thought that if he couldn't have it, neither could I).

I took it back and they promptly refunded my money.

I guess that this shows that pettiness occurs at all levels.

Best Regards,

Cindy Ann Coldiron