Sydney man finds artwork worth $3000 at kerbside pick-up

A man has stumbled across an expensive treasure worth about $3000 on the side of a Sydney street.

A man has stumbled across a hidden treasure worth around $3000 while he was ravaging through kerbside pick-up items.

Entrepreneur Leonardo Urbano, who patches up and resells discarded goods on social media, told NCA NewsWire he came across the item in the inner Sydney suburbs in May and had no idea of it’s value.

“So in the beginning I had no idea about the value, I mean I knew it was pretty,” he said.

“I decided to look up the artist before I gave it away and found their work was quite valuable.”

The Surry Hills man said he got in contact with a local art gallery where he was told the painting was not a print, but an original.

Dapeng Liu the original artist of the painting and is a well known for his work in Sydney. Picture: Supplied

“I ending up speaking to the original artist directly and he told me he was pretty disappointed to see his work in the trash because the painting was actually a gift for someone,” he said.

Sydney based artist Dapeng Liu, who was the original painter of the discarded treasure, has won multiple awards for his work.

In 2022 and 2021 Mr Liu was a recipient for the archibald award, commonly known as Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize.

Entrepreneur Leonardo Urbano often re homes items he finds on the street for free. Picture: Supplied

Mr Urbano said he often comes across hidden gems and treasures covered with cobwebs and rust on kerbside pick-up days.

“About 95 per cent of the things I find have zero problem, the other five per cent just need a clean or bit of love,” he said.

As a passionate environmentalist, Mr Urbano often rehomes items he finds on the streets for free on Facebook Marketplace.

“It’s only when I find something that I think could be worth a little bit more that I resell it, to cover my petrol and the time I spend finding these things,” he said.

Originally published as Sydney man finds artwork worth $3000 at kerbside pick-up