£50k reward for return of art by surrealist recluse

A re-discovered artist who has made £1.6m from his work in just a year is desperate to find his missing artwork “at all cost”, so is now offering a £50,000 reward.

Henry Orlik, 78, from Swindon, has been described as a “great”, with just two exhibitions of his surrealist art having raised the money.

While he had work displayed beside the likes of Salvador Dali in the 1970s, he became an artistic recluse some decades ago and is now in poor health.

After being evicted from his social housing in London while he was recovering from a stroke in 2022, his possessions – including his work – disappeared, and now the search is on to find it.

Henry Orlick now lives in his childhood home in Swindon, since suffering a stroke and is in poor health.

Family friend Jan Pietruszka said the house had a lot of artwork stored there, and he had been going through it, with some items going to exhibitions for sale: “No holds barred – my brief is find them at all cost.”

“He’s getting weaker all the time. His health situation is deteriorating. He’s quite depressed that we’re not making great progress in finding these paintings,” he explained.

Mr Pietruszka said his friend struggled to speak much now. “He’s very deprecating about his work.

“When it comes to the money side, he’s ambivalent, he’s not really interested. The subject always reverts back to, ‘Can you get the paintings back?'” he added.

At least 90 pieces – potentially hundreds – are missing after Mr Orlick was evicted and could not get back into his London flat.

The £50,000 reward is for the recovery of all it, as there has still been no reveal on its whereabouts.

Some of the artwork is enormous – life size or larger and already on a frame, and so, would be easily noticed.

Interpretations of Marilyn Monroe were among them too: “Nobody in their right mind would throw that in the skip,” said Jan Pietruszka.

Hundreds of sketches and work laid out flat are in an architects chest that was in the London home too, including several of his own copies of the Mona Lisa.

A lot of Henry Orlik’s work is not signed, but one of his specialisms is something called “excitations”, his method of composing a picture using small squiggles.

Henry Orlik paints with incredible accuracy and tiny brush strokes, but has mastered different styles.

Marlborough art dealer and gallery owner Grant Ford has been working with Mr Pietruszka and organising the exhibitions.

He said he could hardly believe what he was seeing when one of Orlik’s works was first put in front of him: “I’ve never come across an artist quite like this. As a specialist, I think his imagination is extraordinary.”

Mr Ford has three decades of experience at Sotheby’s and can be seen as an expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

He said that Orlik “should be considered one of our greats”.

“I think had he not turned his back on the commercial art world in the 70s, he would have been one of the really big names.

“Now is a critical time because his health is deteriorating,” said Mr Ford.

Mr Ford said they have had interest from all over the world, including the US and China.

As a young man, Henry Orlik spent some time in New York in the 1970s and an exhibition is being organised there for this year.

Due to Orlik’s art not being sold for decades, the gallery owner had to start from scratch in working out how to price them.

Some have gone for more than £40,000.

Mr Ford and Mr Pietruszka were determined to find the bulk of the missing work with this reward – not just one or two pieces.

Anyone with information about the works whereabouts has been urged to contact the Winsor Birch gallery.