A Hungarian masterpiece worth $285,000 was deemed lost—until it showed up on 'Stuart Little' movie

In the past few years, people have come across ancient artifacts, paintings, and iconic dresses at thrift stores, garage sales, or even in their attics and basements. But a painting named "Sleeping Lady with Black Vase" by Robert Bereny was spotted by Gergely Barki, a researcher at Hungary’s national gallery in Budapest, in a movie, nine decades after it went missing, according to The Guardian. The painting was then brought back home to Hungary, where it was sold for more than $285,000, owing to its popularity across the country.

Spotted in the Most Unexpected Place

The set for the movie "Stuart Little" was probably the most unexpected place to come across a long-lost painting. But when Barki was watching the movie with his daughter Lola in 2009, he noticed something in the background that looked familiar. In the scene, the 'Little' household had organized a gathering to introduce Stuart, the new member of their family.

In the backdrop, the living room is decorated with bright red wallpaper and several paintings. While most of then appeared to be common, Barki noticed that one of the paintings seemed like the work of Róbert Berény, a celebrated Hungarian avant-gardist.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Berény’s long-lost masterpiece on the wall behind Hugh Laurie. I nearly dropped Lola from my lap,” Barki told The Guardian.

He shared that before this he had only seen the painting in a black and white photo, but he was sure that the one in the movie was the real deal.  “A researcher can never take his eyes off the job, even when watching Christmas movies at home," he said.

After making the discovery, he sent a series of emails to the staff at Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures. After waiting for a couple of years, he finally got a reply from the set designer who worked on the film. She told Barki that she bought the painting for next to nothing from an antique shop in California and thought it would be perfect for the set. 

After the filming was completed, the painting stayed with her. Barki then traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the designer, and verified that the painting was original. Following its verification, the set designer sold the painting to a private collector who brought the picture back to its home in Budapest, Hungary where it was put up for sale.

One of Hungary's Most Paintings

The painting's remarkable discovery got widespread media attention around the world making it one of the most popular Hungarian artworks. Thus, after it was put up for auction by the unnamed art collector in 2014, the painting fetched a whopping $283,555, according to the Artnet Price Database. 

The artist, Robert Berény was a pioneering figure in the pre-World War European art movement called the "Group of Eights." The avant-garde group introduced cubism and expressionism to Hungarian art and Berény was considered one of the Hungarian Fauves.

As per records, one of his masterpieces, the "Sleeping Lady with Black Vase" was sold to a Jewish collector in Hungary in 1928. It is believed that the painting was abandoned when the collector fled the Nazis during World War II. But how it ended up in an antique shop in California still remains a mystery.