Mystery Jackson Pollock painting, valued at $54m, seized in Bulgaria police raid

A previously unknown painting by American artist Jackson Pollock has been unearthed during a police raid in Bulgaria, the country's state media has announced.

Believed to have been produced in 1949, the work was discovered in Sofia by a joint operation between Bulgarian and Greek anti-organised crime forces, co-ordinated by Europol, reported Bulgarian National Radio or BNR.

BNR sources have valued it at up to €50 million ($54 million). So far, few details have been provided about the work and what it depicts, however, Novinite news agency cited a report by Bulgarian National Television, claiming it was part of the personal collection of the late Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu — as evidenced by a stamp on its reverse.

The piece was seized alongside five paintings by other notable artists during simultaneous crackdowns on the trafficking of cultural objects in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, and Athens and Crete in Greece. Four suspects, including three Greek citizens and one Bulgarian, are said to be in custody.

"This is an international operation with the participation of Europol, Greece and other countries," Bulgaria's chief secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Petar Todorov said, according to Novinite.

"To our great joy, we managed to establish and keep this painting and at the moment the expertise shows that it is an original."

Pollock was an influential member of the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and '50s, known for his "drip technique" of splashing or pouring liquid household paint on to large canvases. While some celebrated the primal and immediate nature of his works, produced using the force of his whole body, others criticised the seemingly random results.

His works represented a radically new approach, where works had no clear focal points of emphasis, or even identifiable parts. He died in 1956 aged 44 in a car crash while driving under the influence of alcohol.

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Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley