Hello everyone!
I am a new member here, and I'm hoping someone can lend some advice about this oil painting I found. (I've also posted this question on another website, so I hope that's ok -- it seems that this forum gets more visitors than the other one I tried.)
I am a grad student who knows absolutely nothing about art or antiques, but I like to collect cool older things. I found this really cool painting in a thrift store a few months ago. I'm sort of ashamed to say I was just looking for a big frame and planned to pitch the painting inside. But once I started looking at it, I realized it was an original and very cool -- and lost the nerve to actually get rid of it. I've been searching EVERYWHERE for information (including online and my local library), but I've turned up absolutely nothing. Now my husband and I are moving across the country and trying to decide whether we should take this painting with us or not.
Here's the info I have on the painting itself:
The plate on the front says "Garon," and it is signed "B. Garon." There are a few labels on the back. One says: "Product of Reliable, Newark, N. J. Imported Original Oil Painting.' The other says, "Garon: Born 1919 on the Manor Netzchkau/Saale, Germany. He attended the Academies of Fine Arts at Berlin, Charlottenburg and Dresden and studied portrait painting under Prof. Dr. A. Kampf in Berlin and Prof. Reusing in Dusseldorf. He was the only one who was allowed to make a portrait of Karl Arnold, Prime Minister of Nordrhein Wastgailen and of Dr. Robert Lehr, Secretary of Interiors off duty. The latter painting was bought by the "Industry-Club" at Dusseldorf. His large figure paintings are marked by their inner peace paired with Grutzner[illegible]. He also paints landscapes and there is a great demand for them all over [cuts off]."
The piece, in the frame, measures approximately 53" wide x 29" high.
Can anyone offer any help or info? I would appreciate any tips or advice you can provide. I've listed the painting for sale (we have to pare down for this long-distance move), but I'm losing my nerve quite quickly and might hang on to if it's worth anything. I don't expect that it's worth thousands of dollars or anything, but the curiosity is really getting the best of me! And I'm getting sort of swamped with inquiries about it, which leads me to suspect that it might be something worth holding on to.
Thanks so very much!
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