I am NOT the Original Poster. That is Princemerkimer. They posted in r/Advice
Thanks to u/anicole325 and u/BakingGiraffeBakes for the rec! Do NOT comment on Original Posts. Latest update is 7 days old- this has not been posted in this sub before. This sub has a 7 day waiting period.
Mood Spoiler: happy ending!
Original Post: April 1, 2025
Title: I let a bar in my town borrow two pieces of my art and when I went to pick them up the owner said he didnt know what happened to them and that its likely they were stolen. Any advice?
So the title sums it up fairly well. Ive struggled for years to get my art into local galleries around town but the financial strain of submission fees has made it almost impossible. So I stupidly let a bar / restaurant owner borrow my art for their wall. This was a little less than a year ago after they saw it on display at a vendor market we hosted on the pavement outside the establishment.
The owner really liked my stuff and wanted to put it up but he didnt want to buy it (i know, it was stupid- but i had been drinking that day and was desperate for someone to enjoy my art at the time). Anyway- fast forward to now. I went to the bar with a few friends the other day and noticed that my art wasn't where it normally was- saw the owner there and my buddy is good friends with him so we went up and asked about it. He basically said that he didnt even notice they were gone… when I described the pieces he essentially said “oh yeah i love those paintings- yeah they were probably stolen idk” ( paraphrasing here).
I told him how important they were to me and he was unapologetic about the whole affair. When I tried to make a deal with him he appreciated my gumption to ask but was uninterested in making it right.
Is there anything at all that i can do? Or am i screwed and these paintings gone forever. Would love some advice on this.
Super worried someone in town snatched and destroyed one or both. For context: I live in a pretty religious town and one of the paintings was a gay couple.
Some of OOP's Comments:
Commenter: Oh, I wanted to add that I believe borrowing is different than showing. If they asked to hang it then I think they should pay a fair price. I would advise that you don’t burn your bridges if you see interactions with them in the future. Maybe a sweet credit for the bar would work for both parties? Could be interesting.
OOP: Yeah i asked him if he would be down to repay me with beer credits or something similar but he didnt seem interested ☠️
Commenter: Do you have pictures of them? I’d post something to a local FB page and tag the bar saying they were stolen and you’d like them returned. A little public shaming might help things along.
OOP: Yeah i have done this and i have a bunch of friends who are also friends with the bar owner reposting my pics - thanks for the advice !
Commenter: So quite often in bars I will actually see art for sale. There'll be a little pricetag on it.
You should pop on by and see if any of the current art is for sale. My guess is it was a cash-deal.
OOP: Yeah his co owner was supposed to email me to set up a sale price and stuff like that- he never emailed me. So thats another L for me
The timeline:
Yeah im pretty sure it was about a year.
New Comment:
I had been to the bar a bunch of times and even took some people to check out my art and they were always hanging up until now
Commenter: Don’t do that again without a paper-trail and appraisal for amt in case something like this happened. I’m a low risk high reward betting man. And if I had the chance to bet on this I absolutely would. Their hanging in his house , or vacation home or kids home. A business owner. That’s survived for sometime is rarely that much of an airhead he knows where everything came from and where it all went
OOP: Yeah i agree with you- this guy is co-owners with his brother and they own like 4 or 5 businesses in my town 🙄 i know hes not an idiot- he was definitely giving me the run around
Update Post: April 24, 2025 (23 days later)
So i recommend checking out my previous post from r/advice for the original story. Lots of comments saying the situation was a lost cause and to chalk it up to a good life lesson. Well.. we'll see how lost this cause is.
I know someone with experience dealing with the law so they helped me take the next step after I read and considered all the comments on my last post. I went to the bar and talked to one of the bartenders who knows me and asked if they knew anything about the paintings- they said “no, i have no idea what happened to them but we all loved them they were amazing, i didnt know you were such a good artist”. I resisted rolling my eyes at the flattery but moving on-
I asked if the owner was there and they said yep he's sitting inside- sooo i went and spoke with the owner about whether he had checked the storage rooms for the paintings like he promised and he said that they weren't in there. What the owner didnt know is i had a letter in my pocket for them that basically laid down an ultimatum. Pay me for the lost / stolen paintings or return them by a set date.
Well i was nerve-wracked the whole weekend after hand delivering that letter. This dude and his brother run about 4 restaurants in my town so theyre no slouch when it comes to business dealings and needless to say, i was full of anxiety.
On tuesday the 23rd, i got a text from the owner's brother saying, and i quote, “We have your paintings on site. They were put in storage as we were decorating for the holidays.”
Hmmmm very convenient.
I was so excited when i got this text tho. The owner had me convinced they were stolen, mind you. So to know they were safe and sound (despite being lied to - to my face) I was ecstatic.
I went Wednesday to pick them up from the restaurant and when i went to talk to the bartender (a different one than the previously mentioned one) they said something along the lines of “i saw your friends post about them being missing and i was like- thats weird theyre right here in the storage room”.
I played along to be polite cause i still didnt have the paintings in hand yet. But my gut knew the whole staff was in on this BS. Every single person's story has been different so far.
Long story short- i have my paintings back. Ive lost all respect for one of my favorite bars and have learned a valuable lesson about getting everything in writing. To the nay-sayers who told me i had no legal recourse, i hope you all have learned a valuable lesson as well. Your property, is your property. Period.
To all the people who encouraged me to go legal, i salute you. I didnt have to go to court or go to the police but this letter definitely scared the shit out of these dudes.
Thanks everyone for commenting on my last post and hope you all rest easy knowing the paintings are home now lmaoo
Edit: linked pics of the artworks in the comments for those interested
Edit 2: i was at work and wasnt thinking straight - linking the paintings here now cause my brain works again lol
Painting 1
Painting 2
Thanks for all the comments 🍻
Some of OOP's Comments:
Commenter: Next time, have a signed contract with the business, stating the value and that their insurance is liable for loss, theft or damage.
OOP: Yes i got a lot of these comments on the other post - lesson learned
Commenter: Awesome!!! Now make sure you let local artists know if they are dealing with anyone from their several businesses to have a good contract so their work doesn't get "stolen by customers" or "misplaced".
OOP: Definitely will! Thanks for the comment 🍻
Commenter: Kinda just sounds like the owner didn't know where they were because they had been moved by someone without any communication. Jumping to the conclusion that being told something false means you were intentionally lied to seems like a leap of bad faith.
OOP: Idk the stories just didnt add up in the moment- its possible that it was all a misunderstanding.. but my gut tells me otherwise. The very first thing the owner told me was that they were most likely stolen- not "maybe theyre in storage". I was getting a lot of red flags all thru the original conversation
Commenter: May I ask, was the letter from a lawyer? What was the gist?
OOP: The gist was basically if i dont get these paintings or money by a set date then we gonna have a problem
Commenter: Could you go into the backstory/inspiration behind these paintings?
OOP: The kiss is really dorky but im a huge fan of an old show from the 60s called the Time Tunnel. The main characters get lost in time together and .. need i say more? I painted it to symbolize that feeling of resilience gay people needed to have in that era (and today tbh)
The other was an angsty self portrait i painted while working thru some stuff lol not a whole lot to go into on that one 😅
Thanks so much for your interest 🙏