Painting bought for £3 at thrift store could be masterpiece worth £200,000
A rare painting bought for $4 (£3) at a thrift store could be secret masterpiece worth $250,000 (£200,000), it has emerged.
An ecstatic northeastern thrifter is set to auction off an original painting by the prolific American illustrator N.C Wyeth. Ironically, the quarter-of-a-million-dollar painting had been collecting dust in her closet for six years.
A New Hampshire woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, was browsing through a savers thrift store in Manchester looking for items to upcycle. At first, she was focused on new frames when something from the "damaged posters and prints" stack caught her eye.
She scoured the internet to find any information on the painting but nothing remarkable turned up, which eroded her interest. After joking about the piece being a "real painting," the woman thrifted it for a meagre $4. She hung it in her bedroom before eventually throwing it in a closet where it was forgotten for six years.
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Inside two-bedroom house up for auction - and it could be yours for just £12,000She rediscovered it while cleaning her home in May. She decided to post images of the rare artwork to a Facebook page name "Things Found in Walls" which contains pictures of items individuals have "dug up in their backyard, or in that abandoned house across the street from their your grandma’s", according to the description.
The antique eventually piqued the interest of independent conservator Lauren Lewis, who's based in Maine, who offered the woman a consultation on the painting's condition. The two women met in New Hampshire where Lauren carefully examined the piece, which, in her expert opinion, was in pretty good shape despite a few scratches and dust particles on the surface.
“My assessment of the condition was that, while it certainly had some small scratches and it could use a surface clean, it was in remarkable condition considering none of us had any idea of its journey over the last 80 years,” Lauren said.
Lauren added that after inspection, she was "99 per cent sure" it was an authentic piece by the prolific American Illustrator Newell Convers Wyeth. Lauren was a former curator of N.C Wyeth art shows at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, according to The Globe.
Since 1998, Lauren had dealt with various N.C Wyeth paintings as well as art pieces from the illustrator's son Andrew, and grandson, Jamie. Seeking a second opinion, Lauren showed the piece to Christine Podmaniczky, curator of the N. C. Wyeth Collections and Historic Properties at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, who said the painting was "likely the original."
N.C Wyeth left behind "thousands" of paintings when he died in 1945. His illustrations were regularly published in reputable novels including "Robin Hood" and "Treasure Island". The piece in question dates back to 1939 and is part of a four-piece collection that N.C created for Author Helen Hunt's novel "Romona."
The woman told The Globe that she was "thrilled" about the true nature of the artwork she thrifted but also "overwhelmed". The painting is set to be auctioned off on September 19 at Bonhams Skinner auction house in Marlborough.