$30m of Arthur Pinajian art found in Long Island garage

Two homeowners who bought a run-down cottage for $300,000 made the investment of a lifetime after finding a treasure trove of art worth an estimated $30 million in the garage, The Telegraph reports.

Thomas Schultz and his friend Larry Joseph - who are both investors - purchased the ramshackle bungalow in Bellport, New York in 2007, hoping to renovate it.

But inside they found thousands of paintings and drawings by obscure Armenian-American artist Arthur Pinajian, who had died in 1999 at the age of 85.

Pinajian, a former resident of the property who struggled to find success in the art world all his life, had instructed that the works be thrown away when he died. His wishes were ignored, and they remained gathering dust amid bugs, vermin and mould.
Mr Schultz, a local Bellport resident and his friend Mr Joseph, a writer and businessman, paid an extra $2,500 for the art collection and set about restoring it.

In all, there were more than 3,000 paintings, drawings and illustrations.
Some of the abstract paintings are currently being exhibited in New York and are on sale for up to $87,000 each.

Speaking to the New York Times following the discovery of the artworks in 2007, Pinajian's cousin, John Aramian, said: "He thought he was going to be the next Picasso. They believed he would become famous and this would all pay off for them one day but it just never happened.
"So he became frustrated and withdrew from everything and just painted."