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We've detected you are on Internet Explorer. For the best Barrons.com experience, please update to a modern browser. CHROME SAFARI FIREFOX Explore Our Brands * WSJ * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Barron's * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * MarketWatch * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * IBD Barron's Penta Subscribe Now Subscribe Subscribe Now £2 Every 4 Weeks £2 Every 4 Weeks OwnInvestGiveCollectExperienceSIGN IN Summary Summary U.S Europe Asia FX Rates Futures ETFs Crypto DJIA Futures 0.05% 34900.00 S&P 500 Futures 0.07% 4524.75 Nasdaq Futures 0.19% 15545.75 Stoxx 600 -0.01% 458.13 SSE Index 1.26% 3172.69 Crude Oil 0.00% 85.55 U.S. 10 Yr 0.00% 4.19 Bitcoin -0.35% 25974.01 Dollar Index -0.12% 104.10 Barron's 400 1.22% 1016.55 This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.barrons.com/articles/painting-bought-at-a-thrift-store-for-4-could-sell-for-up-to-250-000-at-auction-75becc91 * Art PAINTING BOUGHT AT A THRIFT STORE FOR $4 COULD SELL FOR UP TO $250,000 AT AUCTION * * * * By Eric Grossman Aug. 30, 2023 2:33 pm ET * Order Reprints * Print Article BARRON'S NEWSLETTERS THE BARRON'S DAILY A morning briefing on what you need to know in the day ahead, including exclusive commentary from Barron's and MarketWatch writers. I would also like to receive updates and special offers from Dow Jones and affiliates. I can unsubscribe at any time. I agree to the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Enter your Email SIGN UP You have been successfully subscribed to The Barron's Daily. Your first delivery will arrive within two days. Continue Reading THE WORK WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AS A FRONTISPIECE-AN ILLUSTRATION PRECEDING AND USUALLY FACING THE TITLE PAGE OF A BOO Bonhams Skinner Text size It’s the kind of story that gives hope to dedicated antiquers and bargain seekers. In August 2017, a woman who was browsing through a New Hampshire thrift store found what was later confirmed to be an original work by American painter N. C. Wyeth. Purchased for US$4, the painting will be sold for an estimated US$150,000 to US$250,000 on Sept. 19 at Bonhams Skinner’s American Art auction in Marlborough, Mass. “It is certainly unusual to find such a treasure in a thrift shop, but it is particularly rare to know or discover what you have found, especially for someone outside of the antiques and fine art business,” says Kathleen Leland, American and European works of art specialist at Bonhams Skinner. According to the auction house, the consignor—who has wished to remain anonymous—was antiquing in search of old frames to repurpose when she found a large stack of mostly damaged posters and prints leaning against the wall of a Savers store in Manchester, N.H. Upon spotting the Wyeth—which she noted was “quite heavy and dusty”—in the middle of the stack, she lifted it out and put it in a shopping cart. Not knowing what she had found, she joked about it being a real painting but gave up hope after not finding anything in a quick internet search. The painting hung in her bedroom for a few years, and was then stored away in a closet. Earlier this year in May, she came across the painting while cleaning and posted some images of it on a Facebook page called Things Found in Walls, which encourages the public to post “stories of things you have found in walls, dug up in your backyard, or in that abandoned house across the street from your grandma’s.” Soon thereafter, she connected with the Brandywine Museum of Art—located in Chadds Ford, Pa., the museum showcases the work of the realist painter Andrew Wyeth and his father, N. C.—and Lauren Lewis, a Maine-based independent conservator and former curator of several N. C. Wyeth shows at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. “I am used to seeing copies of Wyeth paintings or paintings by other artists who might have been influenced by him being attributed to the artist falsely, but there were things about these photos that caught my eye,” says Lewis, who met the owner and after examining the painting carefully said she was “99% certain” that it was authentic. “The owners, who had been doing their own research, were understandably thrilled with what they had, but also a bit overwhelmed. They had already approached auction houses and debated private sale, feeling that they were not the ones to be able to care for this piece as it should be,” Lewis says. While ultimately not as well known as his son Andrew—a 2007 recipient of the National Medal of Arts—N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) forged a successful career as an illustrator, working regularly for publishers of periodicals and novels. His work was renowned for its ability to increase the drama and character development of the accompanying text, something he achieved with vibrant, action-packed scenes, vivid colors, and a skillful use of light and shadow, according to the auction catalog notes. Titled Ramona, the work now at Bonhams was originally created as a frontispiece—an illustration preceding and usually facing the title page of a book-—-for a 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel Ramona, which was originally published in 1884 and tells the story of a half-Scottish, half-Native American orphan living in Southern California after the Mexican-American War. Wyeth actually contributed four illustrations to the book, and only one of the other three has been located. According to specialists atBonhams Skinner, Wyeth deftly portrays the tension between Ramona and her rigid and overbearing foster mother, Señora Moreno. The frame seems to be of the artist’s choice, with the basic molding he used to protect the edges and corners of his illustrative paintings when sent by train from his Chadds Ford, Pa., studio to publishers in Philadelphia or New York. As the auction house notes, this work likely was gifted by Little, Brown and Co. publishers to an editor or to the estate of the author. Lewis assessed the painting and determined that while it had some small scratches and 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.” “Not knowing what they wanted to eventually do with the painting and recognizing that structurally it was sound, I suggested they hold off on doing any treatment to the painting until its fate was decided,” she says. Lewis then had a long conversation with Christine Podmaniczky, curator of N. C. Wyeth Collections and Historic Properties at the Brandywine Museum of Art, who agreed that it was likely the original. “It was not unknown for publishers, or the artist himself, to give away original illustration paintings to clients, friends, or family. Unfortunately, unless other information is found, we likely will never find out about this painting’s missing years,” Lewis says. “It is a very exciting find, though, and I hope the purchaser will be willing to exhibit the painting so others can see it in the original.” While Leland has worked with many clients who were hoping to have found a long-lost treasure, she has also come across several notable artworks that clients had not realized were of value. These finds are “often part of a collection that was inherited, including a large Norman Lewis canvas that had been rolled up in an attic and we sold at auction in 2019,” she says. “However, all of these discoveries are rare—-I would estimate that I have worked with three or four in the past 10 years, at least two of which were found by art dealers or antique pickers,” Leland says. * Experience A BRAZILIAN HOTEL’S QUEST TO PRESERVE THE LARGEST TROPICAL SAVANNA IN SOUTH AMERICA * * * * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Winston Ross Aug. 31, 2023 4:03 pm ET * Order Reprints * Print Article POUSADA TRIJUNÇÃO IS REACHABLE BY A 248-MILE DRIVE FROM THE COUNTRY’S CAPITAL, BRASILIA, OR BY A PLANE RIDE. Winston Ross What most people know about Brazil tends to be limited, either to the iconic beaches of Rio de Janeiro or the vast jungles of the Amazon. The massive jungle is one of the world’s most important ecological areas due to its thick carbon-capturing forest, the destruction of which is a worrisome contribution to climate change. Less known, even by many Brazilians, is another of this country’s critical biomes, one that feeds the Amazon and other key areas with the stuff it needs to keep the Continue reading Long Read -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Close PAINTING BOUGHT AT A THRIFT STORE FOR $4 COULD SELL FOR UP TO $250,000 AT AUCTION It’s the kind of story that gives hope to dedicated antiquers and bargain seekers. From To Message SEND An error has occurred, please try again later. 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