The $10,000 Lithograph that Wasn’t

Artist Joan Miró was immensely successful among certain 20th Century aficionados. Some of his paintings had wild scribbles of line art, odd shapes and displays of color that attracted art collectors worldwide.

When an insured claimed that a Miró lithograph was worth $10,000, contents researchers (think “contents detectives”) found that the claimant had hung the print upside down.

The fake artist had signed the top of the painting and the signature was inverted (which was why the owner had hung it incorrectly) and the “Certificate of Authenticity” listed it with the wrong name. That is why the contents valet have a “million dollar data base” of experts who assist them with specialty challenges. The lithograph was worth $0. The insurer saved the full $10,000.