Jason Beltrez: DeCrescenzo/News
A few weeks ago I posted a story about a Warhol Dollar Sign stolen from the Martin Lawrence Gallery in 1998. Christie's remarked that when Jason Beltrez tried to consign it, he didn't seem like a typical Warhol consignor, and I wondered exactly what your typical Warhol consignor looks like.
Then I found the photo above. I guess your typical Warhol consignor does not live in Windsor Terrace and wear Old Navy sweatshirts. Other negatives: Mr. Beltrez has suffered some personal losses that pushed him into drug abuse (he's now in rehab), is unemployed and has a criminal record. But on the plus side he is a homeowner and the father of three. And, apparently, a poodle lover.
Mr. Beltrez says that he bought the painting for $180 at a flea market outside the Holland Tunnel. He has hired a lawyer and is standing his ground, saying he's an honest man who lucked out and, in effect, finders keepers, losers weepers. "If I knew it was stolen, would I go to Christie's?" he asked.
Good point. On the other hand, art thieves are often "simply not the sharpest grappling hooks in the toolbag." Mr. Beltrez used to live on Broome Street, just blocks from the gallery from which the painting was stolen, which he himself admits seems fishy.
But the strangest part of the story is that he says he didn't realize what he had until a friend asked, of the dollar sign hanging on his wall, if it was painted by "that Campbell soup guy." Can you live in SoHo in the '90s and not know a Warhol when you see it?
A Warhol Surfaces and Is Headed for Court [New York Times]
SoHo gallery sues unemployed Brooklyn man, Christie's over Warhol painting [Daily News]
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