Bulgarian authorities said they are investigating the painting, which police found, which may be the work of an unknown American abstract artist, Jackson Pollock. cbsnews.

Evidence suggests that the nearly six-foot-long painting may have been a gift to Hollywood star Lauren Bacall – and may have been kept in the extensive private collection of former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu..

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The painting was found inside an apartment in a raid carried out last month in cooperation with the Greek police and supervised by Europol.

Interior Minister Ivan Demirdzhiev said the painting had been held in Greece for several years before it was smuggled to Bulgaria, where the painter intended to sell it abroad..

“The most qualified experts in Bulgaria examined the painting and assured us that its authenticity is almost certain,” Demirjeev told PTVN, adding that the country would seek “additional expertise”.

The work, a vibrant skein dominated by red and black on a gold background, is not included in Pollock’s catalogues but is signed by the artist.

On the back is a handwritten note that reads, “Dedicated to my dear and very talented friend Lorraine Bacall, Happy Birthday, September 16, 1949,” according to Sofia Deslava Petrova, a spokeswoman for the Sofia City Prosecution Office.