Painting Bought for $30 at Estate Sale Expected to Fetch $250,000 at Auction

A painting discovered at a Michigan estate sale for $30 is now poised to sell for up to $250,000 at a Manhattan auction. The anonymous buyer realized the artwork, signed "Abercrombie, '51," might be significant after spotting the signature of Gertrude Abercrombie, a noted American surrealist.

The collector's suspicion was further validated when they visited the touring exhibition "Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery" at the Milwaukee Art Museum. There, they found a photograph of their painting, titled "Alderman Merriam's Shells," displayed in its original frame and featured in the exhibition's catalog. Art historian Susan Weininger, an expert on Abercrombie, authenticated the piece.

Following authentication, the buyer contacted Freeman's Auctions, which had sponsored the exhibition. The auction house is now handling the sale of "Alderman Merriam's Shells" at its Upper East Side location as part of its "Post-War & Contemporary Art" auction on October 1.

The painting depicts nine seashells that belonged to Robert Merriam, a Chicago city alderman. Abercrombie, a prominent figure in Chicago's mid-20th century art scene, lived and worked in Hyde Park, the same neighborhood as Merriam.

"The shells are alluringly awkward and seemingly lonely in a crowd, much like Abercrombie herself. It’s mesmerizingly mysterious, as with all her finest paintings," said Zack Wirsum, senior vice president at Freeman's, in comments to Artnet. Abercrombie died in 1977 at the age of 68.

Wirsum had noted only weeks prior to the auction house's acquisition that Abercrombie's works are occasionally found at estate sales. "We could not be more thrilled to now steward this magnificent rediscovery to the next chapter of its fascinating story," he stated in a press release.