We remember him as the artist who cut off his ear, but did you know that once Van Gogh's paintings were thrown on the ground for soldiers to walk on to keep their boots from getting muddy?

Can you hear it?

....the sound of boots trampling paintings that would be worth a fortune today. And yet...not one person stopped to pick them up.

Did you know? A Van Gogh painting was discovered covering up a hole in a chicken coop. Think of that....a chicken pecking... destroying.

The smells...the feathers....the muck and amongst it a Van Gogh painting...unprotected, unwanted, abandoned.

What value Van Gogh? Sothebys Auction House, late 1980s, Van Gogh painting sells for a record breaking $82.5 million.

How many people could not see into the future? How many people passed up their chance to own a fortune? How many people simply laughed, ridiculed and walked away from Van Gogh?

Stop and think about that. Would you have ever passed up the opporutnity to own a Van Gogh... for nothing? Free?

I COULD HAVE HAD A RENOIR
FOR A HAMBURGER

The Impressionists... there were times when they gave their paintings away for a meal at a local cafe.

When there were Impressionists exhibitions, the prices were "dirt cheap" and yet....no one bought. No one bought! Renoir, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Manet. No one bought.

What would their paintings be worth today? Sothebys late 1980s, a Renoir painting sells for $78.l million. What is the price of a hamburger?

A SECOND CHANCE

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the human race is the power to learn through mistakes.

The next time you see a painting and are unsure whether to buy or not....listen...hear the sounds of soldiers boots....feel the pecking of chickens....smell the aroma of hamburger...feel the loneliness of rejected paintings hanging in galleries in the darkness of night...unwanted...laughed at....ridiculed.

JACOB LAWRENCE

Place: Houston, Texas, Museum of Fine Arts

Date: November 2002

I heard the lady sitting next to me in an all-day seminar on Jacob Lawrence, say, "I could have had those Jacob Lawrence paintings almost for nothing. He used to try to sell his paintings on the corner. I was tempted, but I never bought one."

She groaned, "I guess that was a mistake."

How much is a painting worth if the artist is in major museums around the world and that artist is in every art history text book? Jacob Lawrence's art work is there.

When opportunity knocks, open the door. Buy the paintings. Then maybe you will never have to say, "I could have... but I didn't."

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