How One Man Discovered a Dumpster Full of Artwork Worth Millions

They say one person’s junk is another person’s gold. For Connecticut skateboarder and mechanic Jared Whipple, who uncovered stacks of artwork in a dumpster, that saying may become literal.

In 2017, Whipple’s friend asked him to help clear out a 40-year-old abandoned barn. There he discovered a 40-yard dumpster stacked front to back with expressionist paintings. After a lot of searching, Whipple found one with the artist’s name and started a research endeavor that would span the next 5 years. The trash-turned-treasure belonged to Francis Hines, an obscure artist most famous for his “15 minutes of fame” in 1980 after “wrapping” New York City’s Washington Square Arch in fabric.