Paintings could be by Jackson Pollock, or not
Joe Doane / Azusa Pacific University
OWNER: Erich Gabor Neumeth, 89, says he obtained the paintings in the 1960s as payment of a debt.
If the paintings are genuine, Azusa Pacific University stands to gain a windfall. However, that’s quite an ‘if.’
AS EXECUTIVE vice president of Azusa Pacific University, David Bixby fields lots of calls. But one that came through last March was a stunner. Howard Kazanjian, a film producer and university trustee, had come across a trove of paintings by a giant of 20th century art that might be donated to the evangelical Christian university.
The good news was that the works were said to have been made by Jackson Pollock, the Abstract Expressionist known for his “drip and splash” style. The bad news: This was yet another batch of undocumented paintings attributed to the artist.