Charles Thompson was a Vermont art dealer. He gave North Attleboro a large painting that is now the source of some controversy. It’s the usual story: should a valuable work of art be kept according to the bequest or sold for its monetary value. The Boston Herald explains:

The saga began in the 1950s, when Thompson donated the enormous, somewhat garish work of Russian painter Alexandre Iacovleff — depicting Afghan men wearing turbans – and hung it proudly in the former high school’s auditorium. There, it seems to have attracted little attention through the decades — until a few years ago, when an art expert attending weekend church services in the auditorium saw the massive painting and told officials it might be a masterpiece, said Town Administrator Mark Fisher.

Sotheby’s appraisers told the town it’s worth $1 million, Fisher said.Continue Reading