The mystery of the lost painting and how a phone call from New Brunswick solved the case

A random phone call from an art lover in New Brunswick was all it took to finally solve the mystery of a missing painting for Julia Veenstra.

The Hamilton artist thought the large 3-by-5 foot painting she had shipped from her home to a customer at an art gallery in Kelowna, B.C., was lost for good.

In mid-March, Veenstra had packed the painting, depicting a solo tree on a rock island in Lake Ontario, and got a tracking number from the shipping company, Day & Ross. But after two weeks it hadn’t made it past Calgary.

After weeks of calls and “extreme frustration,” she was told the $7,500 painting was gone and was offered an apology “for the inconvenience.”

“This is my livelihood. This had a destination. This had a prospective buyer … and they just lost me income, and they didn’t really seem to care,” Veenstra said of the shipping company.

Eventually, she resigned herself to never knowing the outcome.

“The painting was lost and I had to come to terms that it was lost.” 

The story might have ended there if it wasn’t for one curious New Brunswicker.

‘You’ve got my lost painting’

Veenstra was painting in her studio when she received a phone call from a woman in New Brunswick.  

“She said, ‘I figured out who you were from your name on a painting I recently acquired,'” Veenstra said. 

The woman wanted to know the name of the painting, which she had bought at a local art auction.

A few questions later, Veenstra figured it out.

“And I said, ‘Oh gosh, you’ve got my lost painting,'” Veenstra said, adding that when she told the woman the story of the lost painting and all the weeks of anger, frustration and ultimately resignation, the woman said she would “do the right thing” and return the painting to her.

The artist couldn’t help but ask how much her $7,500 painting had sold for at auction and was surprised to find out the large work had gone for just $92.50. 

Veenstra said the woman didn’t want to be interviewed for this story.

CBC has asked both Day & Ross and the auction house, Sunset Auctions, for comment but did not hear back from either.

Veenstra admitted she can be “like a dog with a bone” and went back to the shipping company demanding to know how her painting, bound for British Columbia, had ended up at an auction house in New Brunswick.

She was told the company isn’t allowed to sell items unless the piece has been in their hands for more than nine months but the reason for the mix-up in her case was unclear.

After going through several supervisors, Veenstra finally found one who took responsibility.

That man was also from the East Coast. 

“The East Coasters have been remarkable,’ Veenstra said. “The lady just immediately wanted to relinquish the painting to me and this gentleman, he said, ‘How can we make it right?'”

She asked that the company pick up the painting, ship it to the art gallery in Kelowna, refund her shipping fees and pay her for a new piece of art she is now sending to her new friend in New Brunswick.

As a thank you, Veenstra has painted a new scene.

“The lady invited me to come visit,” Veenstra said, adding she’s been absolutely lovely and is now a good friend.

“I just want to say to her, thank you so much, it caused an interesting story and I think the person who gets the painting in the end will also have an interesting story to go with it.”

The painting of the lone tree on a rocky island is currently enroute to Kelowna with a new name, Veenstra says.

She decided to name it Lost and Then Found.