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September 1, 2023 | 2:05 p.m
A $4 piece of art purchased six years ago at a New Hampshire thrift store could net the buyer hundreds of thousands of dollars because it was created by an American art master.
In August 2017, a woman made the discovery at a Savers thrift store in Manchester, New Hampshire while looking for frames to repair and resell.
Since she had no information about the photo, she bought it for $4 and brought it home.
The artwork turned out to be a creation by Newell Convers (NC) Wyeth and is scheduled to go up for auction on September 19 with an estimated bid price of between $150,000 and $250,000, according to a listing from auction house Bonhams Skinner.
The artwork was part of a series of four pieces created for the 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel “Ramona,” about a Scottish-American girl living in Southern California after the Mexican-American War lives.
“In the artwork, Wyeth cleverly depicts the tension between Ramona and her strict and overbearing foster mother, Señora Moreno,” said the auction house.
Wyeth, a Massachusetts-born artist and illustrator with over 3,000 paintings, is “known for his ability to enhance the drama and character development of the accompanying text through his work.”
“Wyeth cleverly depicts the tension between Ramona and her strict and overbearing foster mother Señora Moreno in the artwork,” said auction house Bonhams Skinner
Only one other piece by Wyeth was found for the book, as this piece was most likely a gift from the book publisher to an editor or the author’s estate.
The auction house understands that the frame holding the painting was chosen by Wyeth himself as a baseboard to protect the edges and corners of his works as they traveled by train from his studio in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, to publishers in Philadelphia or New York traveled.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told auction house Bonhams Skinner that she had “joked that it was a real painting.” according to the Boston Globe.
The Wyeth creation by Newell Convers (NC) is scheduled to be auctioned on September 19 with an estimated bid price of between $150,000 and $250,000, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Only one other piece by Wyeth was found for the book, as this piece was most likely a gift from the book’s publisher to an editor or the author’s estate. Wikipedia
The painting hung in the woman’s bedroom for years before being moved to a closet and only rediscovered in May while she was cleaning her house.
The woman’s curiosity about the artwork was piqued again after she found it again, and this time she decided to post a photo of the artwork on the Facebook page “Things Found In Walls – And Other Hidden Findings”, a group for people post to tell stories about the items they find hidden in unknown places.
Her post was seen by Maine conservator Lauren Lewis, who once directed several NC Wyeth exhibitions at the Farnsworth Museum. There she began working with the Wyeth Study Center and worked closely with the painter’s son Andrew and grandson Jamie, according to their website.
Wyeth, a Massachusetts-born artist and illustrator, owns over 3,000 paintings, including this 1940 self-portrait. National Academy of Design
Lewis has worked with many of Wyeth’s works and decided to counsel the woman when she concluded she was “99 percent sure it was authentic,” Lewis told the Boston Globe.
“My assessment of the condition was that while it had some minor scratches and could use a surface cleaning, it was in remarkable condition considering none of us had any idea of its journey over the last 80 years,” added she added.
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