Norman Rockwell painting found hidden inside wall

Here's something: A Norman Rockwell painting called "Breaking Home Ties," which, like most of Rockwell's work, once appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, and was on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum, has turned out to be fake.

This fact only came to light when the original version of the painting was found buried inside the wall of the studio of a friend of Rockwell. For some reason, when Rockwell gave the painting to his friend as a gift, the friend created a copy of it and hid the original. The fake version went on to be displayed, while the original remained encased behind plaster.

If it was properly stored, I'll bet the original is in excellent condition.

This illustrates two things that I point out in my book: Plenty of paintings hanging on museum walls are not authentic, and valuable paintings fall through the cracks, and are sometimes unearthed in the most unlikely places.

The latter fact is what fuels so much speculation on the fringes of the art market. A lot of people spend their lives looking for a Rockwell hidden inside a wall (or a Diebenkorn stored in a garage).