In an otherwise charming story about a stolen painting recovered in a trash pile 20 years later, it's kinda hard to escape the mounting evidence that the 'hero' is utterly insane. To wit: Elizabeth Gibson, age unmentioned (though looking like a well-preserved 50?), "self-professed Dumpster diver," found a 38-by-51-inch painting in a pile of trash on the Upper West Side. So she took it home (it had a "strange power") and hung it up. Three years later, she realized it was a FAMOUS STOLEN MASTERPIECE. So, naturally, she built a false wall in her "crammed" apartment and wrapped the painting in old shower curtains.

Gibson finally Googled the artist's name and learned that a two-year-old repeat of Antiques Roadshow involving the painting was going to be rebroadcast the next day. In Baltimore. So she hopped the next bus and checked into a Baltimore hotel to watch an hour of PBS.

Then she engaged in some wacky spy games with Sotheby's!

Upon returning to New York, she immediately called Sotheby's and made an appointment to see Mr. Uribe. "Just call me a Mystery Woman," she says she told his office, not wanting to reveal her story until she was face to face with Mr. Uribe. She asked a minister from her church, the First Church of Religious Science, to accompany her and introduced herself as Mrs. Green.

What is this church that abets art world intrigue? We know it heals all illness through use of the mind, but will they help us pull of a heist? Can we rent a minister for late night sting operations of renowned international art thievery rings?

You'll be happy to know that one of the painting's rightful owners is still alive, and "Mrs. Green" is getting $15 grand for her troubles.

One Person's Trash Is Another Person's Last Masterpiece [NYT]
[Photo: Damon Winter]