Roy Lichtenstein painting that disappeared 42 years ago has re-emerged in a Manhattan warehouse -- and its owner is trying to make sure it doesn't pull another disappearing act.
The estimated $4 million painting by the late pop art prince, called "Electric Cord," was last seen in 1970, when owner Leo Castelli sent it out to be professionally cleaned.
It never made it back to Castelli's apartment, and was reported lost or stolen.
It's whereabouts remained a mystery until last week, when the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation called Barbara Castelli, Leo's widow, to say it had turned up at a high-end art storage warehouse on E. 61st Street, and that someone was trying to sell it.
A rep from the foundation had gone to look at the painting after they were asked to authenticate by a Manhattan gallery boss who the "owner" had approached for a possible sale, the court papers say. The work had apparently recently been on display at a museum in Bogota.
The foundation had been trying to help Castelli located the painting for years, and immediately tipped her off, the filings say.
Now Castelli's making sure it stays in the Big Apple - she filed papers in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking an order barring Hayes Storage Warehouse releasing the painting to anyone pending a court hearing.
Castelli said in court papers that she was making the move because she's "deeply concerned" about the possibility of the artwork, "which is an American treasure by an artist native to Manhattan, again disappearing, perhaps to never be seen again."
"We do not know who's claiming to own it, or who's trying to sell it. We do not know who placed it at Hayes," said Castelli's lawyer, Perry Amsellem. But "we do know it is at Hayes . . . and we're concerned the painting is going to just disappear again."
Justice O. Peter Sherwood signed an order earlier this afternoon barring the warehouse from moving the painting until after a hearing on Monday morning with representatives from Hayes and the current "owner," who's listed on the court papers as "John Doe."
