A New York art research firm is convinced that “Elimar” is a long-lost work of Vincent van Gogh and one of about 300 lost during the Dutch master’s final year of life at an asylum in Southern France. (Photo courtesy of LMI Group International Inc.),
What happens next in the mystery of a Minnesota picker’s $50 garage sale find will either rock the art world or crush an art historian staking his considerable reputation on his belief that the painting is one of the lost works of Dutch master Vincent van Gogh.
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The evidence is strong, but some skeptics say they’re not convinced that “Elimar” is one of about 150 art works van Gogh painted after checking himself into an asylum in Southern France in 1889. If the portrait of a fisherman proves to be a van Gogh, it could be worth $15 million.
Maxwell L. Anderson, the former art director of the Metropolitan Art Museum and now the chief operator officer of LMI Group International, the New York-based that acquired the painting in 2019, told The Wall Street Journal he was “struck” by skills of a deft painter playing out on the canvas.
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“Was I all in? No. But I was super intrigued,” he said.
The road to authentication is long and arduous in this modern-day mystery that offers a glimpse into van Gogh’s last days.
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- Read the full story: Picker’s $50 Garage Sale Find May Be Lost Van Gogh Worth $15M
He Said Yes
It’s not what you think. Seth Mendoza’s mom says her teenage son has always been a “yes kid” and “is always up for a challenge.”
The suburban Chicago teen’s high school wrestling record shows as much. He’s a three-time state wrestling champ and he is aiming for a fourth title later this month. He is an accomplished runner, too. So when his dad asked him to think about chasing another record — running in his place at the Boston Marathon — Seth said yes “right away.” What, after all, was one more challenge to train for?
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Mike Mendoza was entered to run in his ninth Boston Marathon but was sidelined by a surgery. He contacted the Boston Athletic Association and got permission for his son could run in his place.
It made perfect sense.
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“He kind of introduced me to running,” Seth said of his father. “He would bring me to local 5Ks, then longer runs — 10K, half-marathons.”
It also gave Seth a chance to raise money for one of his family’s favorite causes, Semper Fi & America’s Fund, which supports wounded service members, veterans, and their families.
- Read the full Patch Exclusive: ‘Yes Kid’ Runs Marathon In Dad’s Place To Honor Vets
What it Takes For Love To Last
Can a 15-year-old and a Marine who got hitched a week after they met make it work? What about a couple of college students who met as guinea pigs in a professor’s study on computer dating? Or a couple who met when she hitchhiked home from a basketball game?
Yes, yes and yes.
These three couples with decades-long marriages are among dozens of respondents to Patch’s informal survey asking the secret to long and healthy relationships.
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- Read the full Patch Exclusive: It’s All About Love: ‘How We Met’ Love Stories
A Fix Is In The Bag
Abington Township is the latest Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, community to ban single-use plastics and is the first jurisdiction in the state to take the step in 2025. The ban on single-use plastic bags and expanded foam polystyrene containers like plates, cups, and takeout containers takes effect later this year.
A PennEnvironment spokesperson said the ban is “a good start in the effort to tackle the scourge of rampant plastic pollution that plagues our neighborhoods, our local parks and green spaces, and our rivers, streams, and oceans.”
“Nothing we use for a few minutes, such as single-use plastic bags, should be allowed to litter our communities, pollute our environment, and fill our landfills and incinerators for hundreds of years to come,” said Faran Savitz, who works for PennEnvironment’s Zero Waste program.
PennEnvironment estimates that Abington residents use about 21 million single-use plastic bags annually, equivalent to more than 235,000 pounds of plastic waste.
- Read the full Patch Exclusive: Township That Uses 21M Plastic Bags A Year Bans Them
The More You Know
Speaking of marine life, the Aquarium of the Pacific has launched a brand new Marine Species Report Card to inspire the public to get engaged and familiar with the species off the California coast.
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With the report card, anybody will be able to access in-depth updates of a marine species’ health.
“Species are the real, tangible building blocks of biodiversity. And so the purpose of this marine report card is to put species at the forefront of the public and the science of biodiversity,” Peter Kareiva, the president and CEO of Aquarium of the Pacific.
- Read the full story: New Marine Species Report Card Gives In-Depth Updates On Ocean Life
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