A man in the United States spent $30 to buy a painting related to shells, which was recently auctioned off for a whopping $1.35 million, making a huge profit. It turns out that this was a long-lost painting by Chicago female artist Gertrude Abercrombie, and this auction set a new world record for the highest price of her works.
According to CBS News, the collector purchased the painting titled “Alderman Merriam’s Shells” at an estate auction in Michigan for $30.
The painting was later confirmed to be an authentic work created by Abercrombie in 1951, depicting shells collected by Robert Merriam, a Chicago alderman from 1947 to 1955. The estimated sale price for the painting was between $150,000 to $250,000.
However, Freeman’s Auctions auctioned off the painting on October 1st for $1.35 million, far exceeding the expected sale price and setting a new record for the auction price of Abercrombie’s works.
Gertrude Abercrombie gifted the painting to a doctor named John Reynolds in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1952 to offset surgery costs. It was exhibited in New York and Chicago in 1952 and 1953, but then disappeared from public view.
In July of this year, a collector specializing in searching for antiques attended an estate auction in Kalamazoo. He was originally looking for vinyl records but was unexpectedly drawn to a painting. Flipping the painting over, he saw a name written on the back that seemed familiar, prompting him to purchase it.
According to The Art Newspaper, expert Susan Weininger confirmed that Reynolds had lent the painting to museums for exhibition multiple times, but it eventually vanished and became part of his estate.
Zack Wirsum, the Director of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Freeman’s Auctions, expressed astonishment when he first saw a photo of the painting. While on vacation, he received an email claiming to have discovered an Abercrombie painting. Skeptical after receiving many similar emails, he was amazed when he saw the image, recognizing it as a masterpiece by her that he had never seen before.
After the record-breaking auction, Wirsum released a statement saying, “There’s no fairytale happy ending—it wouldn’t make a good story if it was all wrapped up. The auction result is the perfect ‘happy ending’.”
He added that he and the auction team were “especially thrilled for the astute consignor who saved this masterpiece from being lost to history forever.”
Gertrude Abercrombie passed away in Chicago in 1977 at the age of 68.