During an investigation into an international art trafficking operation, Bulgarian officials say they found a painting by Jackson Pollock that had never been seen before. Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), which was the first to report the find on Tuesday, says the painting could be worth up to €50 million ($54 million). BNR said that the raid was aimed at a group of organized criminals who worked in Athens, Greece, and on the Greek islands of Crete and Sofia. They said this was based on information from people who were close to the investigation. So far, three Greek people and one Bulgarian have been caught. The painting, which is said to have a faint signature of Jackson Pollock, has been given to experts. According to the Novinite news agency, a first look suggests that it is an original, uncatalogued work by the most important American abstract expressionist from 1949. We don’t know anything else about the painting.
Pollock died in 1956 at the age of 44, leaving behind only a few works. At auction, drip paintings by Pollock have sold for more than $60 million. According to Novinite, Bulgaria’s Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Petar Todorov, said, “This is an international operation in which Europol, Greece, and other countries are involved.” “It made us very happy that we were able to find and keep this painting, and right now the experts say that it is an original.”