Valuable Spanish painting found on street after owner left it behind

A valuable painting by the famous Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla has been returned after a man found it on the street in Seville. The man, Andrés Hurtado, did not realise the painting was valuable at first. He picked it up because he liked its gold frame, thinking it might have been thrown away.

The painting shows two boats on a beach. Hurtado, who is 57 years old, found the artwork last Saturday. He didn't know it was by Sorolla, an important artist from the late 1800s and early 1900s, who was well known for his paintings of light and beach scenes.

The painting belonged to a family from Seville. They had owned it for many years and often took it with them on holidays. On the day it went missing, they were getting ready to go to the beach and planned to put the painting in their car. However, they accidentally left it leaning against a wall and drove away.

When the family realised the painting was gone, they were very upset. They put up posters asking for help to find it. They described it as a painting of great sentimental value but did not mention the artist or its true worth. They hoped someone would return it, but they heard nothing until Tuesday.

It turned out that Hurtado had found the painting while he was in Seville with his family for a weekend trip. He lives in Murcia, which is over 500km away. He told a radio station that he picked up the painting because of the frame, not the artwork itself. After taking it home, he used artificial intelligence (AI) to research the picture and discovered it might be a Sorolla.

Hurtado then contacted an auction house in Madrid. After sending them pictures, they confirmed it was an original Sorolla painting. The artwork is valued at up to €150,000. Hurtado’s time with the painting ended quickly when he heard about the alert for a stolen painting that matched the one he had.

He immediately contacted the police to explain that he had not stolen it. He told them he had simply found it on the street and picked it up. The police have now returned the painting to its owners in Seville. They have promised Hurtado a small reward for his honesty. The family explained they were in a hurry and felt pressured by traffic, which caused them to leave the painting outside.