07/13/2025
I haven't posted anything in years, so here's a new one:
Over three years ago, I received a strange call, and I thought it worth sharing. The caller started out by pleading, "Please don't hang up on me; everyone's been doing it!" He had a strong cornpone accent, and I could imagine art gallery personnel not wanting to give him the time of day, especially when he stated he had a signed Leonardo da Vinci! I felt a little sorry for the guy, plus I was curious as to what engendered this call. I calmly said I would be glad to try to answer his questions and won't hang up.
He said he lived in the woods of deep East Texas, only had a fourth-grade education, was basically illiterate and spent much of his time hunting squirrels. From the way he spoke, I fully believed him and was determined to avoid any semblance of snootiness and artspeak.
He said his mother had thrown the "da Vinci" in a trash can, and he had fished it out. He then asked for my cell # (my gallery biz is on a landline) so he could send me an image of the signature. (Now, I deal with many highly educated people, and some of them have never learned how to do this simple task!) He then sent several views of the "signature."
You can see it below, and I challenge you to see anything that resembles a signature. I immediately thought of a word that I can never remember, nor immediately pronounce: pareidolia (look it up!). Fortunately, I have a list of some rarely used, favorite words, and I was quite excited to have actually run into this phenomenon first hand.
After dickering around with what wasn't there, I ask him to send an overall picture. Using Google Lens, I quickly identified it as a widely mass-produced, framed printing from the early Twentieth Century entitled "The Good Shepherd" by Oswald Voelkel. After getting the on-the-spot art education behind us, he told me he was doing OK and was beginning to read better. Upon later reflection, I think that if some kind of dystopian event ever occurred, I would much rather get through it with this guy, out in the woods surviving on squirrels than with one of those educated people who haven't yet mastered the functions of a smartphone!
