"A rediscovered surrealist artist who has had dozens of his works go missing says it has left him feeling violated. Henry Orlik, 78, was evicted from his social housing flat in London in 2022 while he was recovering from a stroke in hospital, which is when the paintings disappeared. Now living back in his childhood home in Swindon, his work there is being carefully catalogued and some of it has been sold in exhibitions, altogether making more than 2m."
"His surrealist work is unusual and many of the paintings, some of which are huge, would have taken months to complete. Orlik uses tiny brush strokes, with much of his work made up of small squiggles he calls excitations. It is also very precise and accurate. Art dealer and expert Grant Ford, who has the missing pieces listed on his website, said some were "iconic"."
""The titles aren't important, but I remember them. I worked on them for a long time. They're in me," he said. "There's meaning behind an image. That's why I painted it, there's a reason." After discovering they were gone, he said: "You feel violated. I feel physically sick because it's something unusual, not real." He said getting them back would mean everything."
Henry Orlik, a 78-year-old rediscovered surrealist, lost dozens of paintings after eviction from his London social housing flat in 2022 while hospitalized for a stroke. The canvases disappeared during his recovery; he now lives in his childhood home in Swindon where remaining work is being catalogued and some pieces have sold for over £2m. Orlik feels violated and physically ill over the loss and has offered a £50,000 reward. His work features tiny brush strokes and small squiggles he calls excitations, often on a huge scale and taking months to complete. Dealers describe some missing works as iconic.
Read at www.bbc.com
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