The Only Portrait Jacko Posed For

“If someone came with a legitimate offer, I’d probably sell it,” said Mr. Abrams. He tried selling it when he first took possession of it in 1992, but couldn’t find any good offers. “I couldn’t get anyone at that time interested in the painting,” said Mr. Abrams. “I put it in storage for 17 years, and it has been there for 17 years.”

They never displayed it in their own homes. “It’s so expensive that the insurance was too expensive,” Mr. Abrams said. “I have prints for $600. I might have a sketch for $1,000. But to put a $2 million painting in the middle of all that would be a little bit overwhelming.”

Mr. Jackson said he would sit for it if the buyer agreed to pay a world record — ultimately $2.1 million, then reported as the highest amount ever paid for a living person. “Sometime later he told me he would have made $5 million for it,” Mr. Strong said.

The owners have received calls from as far away as Dubai after Mr. Jackson’s death from people who knew they owned the painting. Up to this point we’ve been very skittish,” Mr. Abrams said. They have reached out to Phillips De Pury auction house to get an assessment. “I am not an art expert. I don’t understand the art market,” he said. “We have no idea what it’s worth. Is it worth $1 million? Is it worth $10 million?”

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