A $30 painting bought in a garage sale turned out to be a lost Gertrude Abercrombie work and now heads to auction with a $250,000 estimate.
The dramatic story unfolded this summer when the anonymous buyer saw an interesting painting at a Michigan estate sale and bought it for $30. The painting had no name and just a signature “Abercrombie ’51” at the bottom left. Intrigued, the buyer brought the work to the Milwaukee Art Museum which was coincidentally exhibiting a survey of Gertrude Abercrombie restrospectice at the time.
Another coincidence followed when one of the catalogs up at the survey contained an archival photograph of the very work. The photograph was published in 1952 while covering an Abercrombie exhibition. Susan Weininger, an expert in the artist’s works, concluded that this was an authentic Abercrombie painting. Titled ‘Alderman Mirriam’s Shells’, the painting was made in 1951 and the featured shells belonged to Robert Mirriam, an alderman in Chicago.
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The painting was handed over to Freeman’s, who was one of the sponsors of the survey. The painting is now on exhibition but with an updated price tag: $150,00 – $250,000. The bids will open soon and start at $70,000.
