LINK, O. WINSTON (1914-2001) "Hotshot, Eastbound, Iager, West Virginia." Special Edition silver print, 19 7/8x23 1/2 inches (50.5x59.7 cm.), with Link's signature and printing notations, in pencil, and his copyright hand stamp, on verso; also with a special OWL hand stamp on verso indicating that this print was recovered from a successful sting operation against Conchita Hayes (Link), who also altered the print date; the print is sheathed in an evidence bag from the trial with Grand Jury Exhibit, People's Exhibit, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Forensic Laboratory red stickers on the outside. 1956; printed 1991
From the Collection of Thomas Garver, a former assistant to O. Winston Link, and subsequently Link's agent, the author of Link's second book of railroad photos, and the organizing curator of the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia.
In 1991, O. Winston Link reconfigured his darkroom in order to produce Special Edition 20x24 inch exhibition prints for Danziger Gallery. As Link labored to finish printing the photographs, his marriage to Conchita Link unraveled rapidly and she forced him from their home. After their divorce was finalized, Link returned home to find that Conchita had stripped the house of his cameras and thousands of prints, including the 20x24 Special Editions.
Conchita was subsequently indicted and convicted of grand theft in the first degree for stealing over $300,000 by forging Link's signature, misusing his bank accounts, and handing over $60,000 to her lover in upstate New York. She spent years in prison, but never confessed the whereabouts of the stolen goods. In 2003, a suspect image turned up on eBay. Prosecutors conducted a sting operation in which an investigator posing as a corporate collector recovered 30 prints valued from $350,000 to $500,000. Conchita and her new husband were arrested and sent to jail.
The "Hotshot Eastbound, Iaeger, WV" being offered in this auction was held as evidence in the trial against Conchita Mendoza Link Hayes.
