27. Chit-Chat with the Curator: Mystery of Artist Lert

In the past year or so, different people have asked me for information about the artist LERT. One lady from Romania wanted to know the price for “four paintings of birds on leaf” which she wanted to sell. Another man from northern Thailand only wanted to know more about the artist who painted a scene of village life along the river that he had seen since childhood. And the very first person who ever contacted me via Collectibles Corner.com was also interested in Lert.

It is striking to me that the people who have somehow acquired a piece of his work (which is not expensive) are so curious about who he/she is.

I shared what I know from the website https:belladaze.wordpress.com which posted 5 different entries from 2012 to 2014: Looking for the Artist Known as LERT (December 5, 2012); More Info on Lert the Unknown Artist has Arrived (October 20, 2013); Looking for LERT (the artist) updated July 2014 (February 4, 2014); Two More LERT Paintings have been Found (February 4, 2014); Major Clues Discovered about the Mystery Artist LERT (February 15, 2014) and the trail ends on there on that website.

In any case, the original question posed by the bellazaze blogger has not yet been definitively been answered: How did so may works of art by one person end up scattered around the world without someone knowing who the artist is?

The current theory is that the artist might have been a Thai living near U-tapao RTAFB during the Vietnam war, selling his work at the open air market nearby. People from all over the world passed through that RTAFB and they could have stopped at the market to pick up a memento to take home! That may be why the ownership of his paintings is scattered world wide: USA: California (3), Oregon (1), Florida (3), Ohio (1), Texas (6), New Jersey (1), Kentucky (1), Colorado (1)New Zealand (1), Australia (2), Sweden (1), Ukraine (1), The Netherlands (1), Philippines (1), Germany (1), Indonesia (1) Canadian Province (3)

In any case, the original question posed by the bellazaze blogger has not yet been definitively been answered. However, CW | Collecters Weekly has just this week posted: Who is Lert? Painting on Leaves along with the notice UNSOLVED MYSTERY–Help us close this case. Add your knowledge below–so I did send in photos of our two works by LERT, and now I am waiting to see what happens next!