NC Wyeth painting bought for $4 at a thrift store to sell for $250,000 at Bonhams auction
- The woman found the treasure in a store in Manchester, New Hampshire
- The work hung on her wall for years before she realized its origins
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A Delaware woman who thought she bought an old painting for four dollars at a thrift store is expected to sell it for hundreds of thousands of dollars after it turned out to be a work by American master NC Wyeth.
The lucky woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, found the treasure at the Savers thrift store in Manchester, New Hampshire, while looking for a picture frame in 2017.
Instead, she selected a long-lost 1930s painting by NC Wyeth made for the 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 book Ramona.
The long-lost work is expected to sell at a Bonhams auction next month for a whopping $250,000.
Bonham’s spokeswoman Sheri Middleton said DelawareOnline that the experience has been “overwhelming” for the woman.
The lucky woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, found a valuable work by NC Wyeth in a thrift store in New Hampshire. The painting is expected to sell for $250,000
The Savers thrift store in Manchester, New Hampshire
She reportedly joked that she might find a genuine article as she pulled the dusty painting out of a pile of frames.
After searching the Internet to no avail, the woman hung it in her home, where it remained for years.
It wasn’t until this spring that the woman shared the work on a Facebook group called “Things Found in Walls,” and people started leaving interesting comments.
Many told the painter’s owner that the piece could be an NC Wyeth and advised her to visit the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford and Wyeth curator Lauren Lewis.
Lewis drove to Maine and immediately became excited upon seeing the painting.
The woman then took the painting to Bonham’s, where experts confirmed its probable provenance thanks to the style, back panel and type of frame, all of which matched Wyeth’s work.
Auction house expert Kathleen Leland explained that the artist used a “specific type of artist board – Weber ‘Renaissance’ panels, distinguished by their red backing and elaborate labeling
Wyeth was known for paintings and illustrations such as Treasure Island and Portrait of a Farmer. His later works have sold for millions of dollars at auction
Auction house expert Kathleen Leland explained that the artist used a “specific type of artist board – Weber ‘Renaissance’ panels, distinguished by their red backs and elaborate labels,” as reported by art blog Hyperallergic.
The painting depicts a merciless foster mother, Senora Gonzaga Moreno, and an orphan, Ramona.
It is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000 at auction after viewings through September.
Unfortunately, as expert Kathleen Leland told Delaware Online, finding a treasure like the Wyeth painting at a thrift store is far from common.
“Discoveries like this are certainly rare,” she said.
“Not only because of the limited supply of special works that end up in thrift shops, but also because it is difficult for anyone other than an expert in the field of antiques or fine art to recognize the significance of what they have found.”
Wyeth was known for paintings and illustrations such as Treasure Island and Portrait of a Farmer. His later works have sold for millions of dollars at auction.
The painter is the father of fellow celebrity master Andrew Wyeth and grandfather of artist Jamie Wyeth.