Old Antique Painting NEEED HELP ASAP

[newtothis]

Im trying to find more information on this painting. Its of a girl not very big just her face. The artist name or what is on the paitning on the bottom right hand corner is Rovatky. The history or which im told during the civil war or one of the wars a man stole this painting from the hungarian museum and then sold it to my grandparents. Not i have it i would like to know more bout this. On the back of the painting it has a stamp saying Republic Of hungary. I cant even find info on the painter the only thing i find is of another guy who is an composer or singer.

[waywardangler]

I would be very cautious on this.  Your ownership of this art may not be legal.  Legal ownership of property that was taken during a war may still reside with the original owner.  This requires more research on your part to determine true ownership.

[D&b antiques]

Wayward is ''Right'' the republic of Hungary was communist from 1947 to 1989 Hungary's fine art's. does not have a listing for this artist.

[railman44]

If your spelling is correct he/she is not a listed artist in askart.com.

[KC]

Can you post a pic of the painter's name only!  Rovatkay is a Hungarian name.

Just to make sure you have the name spelled correctly.

The ownership (if indeed stolen) in this case would be the original country....

[regularjoe2]

Welcome to the forum , newtothis .

As others have mentioned , ownership of 'International Art' that may have been stolen is a bit of a slippery slope .

This does not mean that yours is actually a stolen work , or from where you think (or were told) it came from .

I did a bit of covert checking on yours , and have not found it on any national or international "hot sheets' or 'watch lists' .
I regularly check on such things when buying paintings , so I've got a bit of a clue about doing so .

I'll comment that often 'sellers; will "invent" stories about paintings to facilitate their sale , usually kind of a rush-job .
Some buyers (collectors especially) don't give a hoot where or how a painting was acquired , and con-men have used this angle for selling both real & fake items for centuries .

Statutes of limitations apply in many cases , with so called "International" art ; there's also problems with loss of (or lack of) ownership paperwork (wars , fires , floods , thefts etc.) from the original owners .


Possesion is still pretty much 9/10's of the law when no paper trail exists , generally , sorta-kinda .

As others mentioned , it would be nice to see a good quality image posted here , of the artists' signature .
I'd like to see an image of the 'republic of hungary' stamp you've mentioned too .

Perhaps members here can help with your researching .

[talesofthesevenseas]

Have you considered the possibility of returning it to the museum it was stolen from? As hard as it is to do, when a person donates to a museum, they are not really losing an item, but allowing for it to be shared and appreciated by the rest of the world. I made the difficult decision to donate my gr-gr-gr-gr-great grandmother's shawl to the DAR museum recently because she is one of the few women recognized for her service and this allowed me to share the artifact with more of her descendants and people interested in her history. The museum is great and we can go "visit" her shawl any time. I also know it will be protected in ways that I cannot and that it will have the best care available.

[KC]

I your case, you get the tax write off of a donation tales?

[talesofthesevenseas]

Yes I did. I was able to claim an approximate market value for an 18th century shawl, with adjustments for up provinance of it belonging to a prominent historical figure and adjusting down for the economy. My DAR contact was prohibited from providing a value for me but she advised me to find the general value of similar shawls and then adjust.

[KC]

Great deal!  Sometimes those tax write offs are better than cash in hand!

[talesofthesevenseas]

The tax benefit was a fringe benefit really, I never would have done it for that reason alone. It was very tough to do, but it was better for the shawl, better for my family and for the benefit of historians. What I got was the peace of mind that it was in the safest environment possible and that I could go "visit" it along with my ancestor's wedding dress any time. I also have the satisfaction of knowing that my nieces are all being taken for visits now, which was exactly what I hoped the donation would do, spark an interest in the next generation of girls. 

[sunrise]

Just to add to this post, I picked up two unframed oil portait canvass paintings at a moving sale for 5 bucks around 100 x 200 cm, each marked Rovatkay (the a is accented) with a small typewritten sheet sayong he was born in 1924 in Hungary, that he studied at the Academy of Arts in Budapest and lived in Paris and Rome. Other than your post here I have learned nothing abou him. The porraits are excellent though, one of an apparent bearded holy man (rabbi) reading a large book with a shawl and cap, while the other is of an old bearded man smoking an old large pipe. Happy to post a pic if anyone is interested? kindest regards, Rob

[mart]

PLease do post your pics !!  This is a very old post so I did not see the other one,, if it was ever posted here !!