A couple of interesting articles on a couple of recently recovered paintings by Gauguin and Bonnard. Following an art theft in '70, they were acquired for $30 in 1975, the paintings are currently predicted to sell for over $50 Million dollars at auction now.
Note the language used by the media to describe the "discovery" of the artwork - "Extraordinary discovery of 'Fruits on a Table' painting which hung on a factory worker's wall for decades before being found by Italy's art police" ... there are worlds to be read into "factory worker's wall" - as if it were some miracle that a factory worker should recognize or value art, esp. art of this caliber. The class hierarchy at it's worst, a far better leading line might be "Canny Factory Worker acquires Gauguin and Bonnard for $30..." or other such, but we regard the appreciation of "fine art" as a provenance exclusive to the "educated and rich".
Links: The Telegraph && CNN (the byline at the end is of interest...) && BBC. Note the fact that CNN doesn't lead with "factory worker"....a rare chance to applaud them for reporting the "relevant" news that doesn't reinforce negative class stereotypes. I would suggest shaming the BBC and The Telegraph, but it's Britain, and they are so far into 1984 that it doesn't matter.