A PAINTING ESTIMATED to be worth around €60,000 has been hanging quietly on a wall inside RTÉ for decades, but the broadcaster isn’t certain who actually owns it. The Gerard Dillon work, titled Kitchen Interior with Seated Woman, may have been loaned to the broadcaster by an unnamed art gallery five decades ago. RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said the broadcaster is currently trying to track down paperwork to confirm its provenance. “We believe it may well have been lent to us by an art gallery about 40 or 50 years ago, and we’re trying to find the paperwork,” Bakhurst told RTÉ Radio’s Drivetime this afternoon. “You can understand that’s not straightforward. The art gallery has been in contact saying they believe it was lent to us, but they also don’t have paperwork to show that.” According to Bakhurst, the unnamed art gallery has indicated it would like the piece returned if it is indeed theirs. Advertisement “To the best of our knowledge, it may well be theirs. We need to bottom it out. If it is, we’ll give it back to them, obviously,” Bakhurst added. Dillon, a self-taught Belfast-born artist, worked as a house painter and decorator before fully committing to his art. he became the rising star of the Irish avant-garde, his works widely exhibited and written about. He passed away in 1971. The Dillon painting has been hanging in an RTÉ office in an “inconspicuous” spot, according to Bakhurst. The broadcaster said the issue only came to light in recent months, prompting a search through historical records to clarify ownership. “It’s the first time, to our knowledge, that it was raised with us. We’re trying to see whether the gallery has any proof of ownership, or whether we have any proof that it was loaned or bought,” Bakhurst said. The discovery forms part of a wider internal review by RTÉ, which has also uncovered historical irregular payments and pension arrangements dating back decades. Bakhurst emphasised that the broadcaster has no interest in keeping property it does not own, but wants to ensure proper due diligence before returning the artwork. “We just want to be sure before we hand it back,” he said. RTÉ also published its annual report today, which detailed the salaries of the braodcaster’s highest earners.