{"id":871743,"date":"2026-10-05T15:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T15:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871743\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T15:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T15:56:15","slug":"a-30-painting-found-in-a-michigan-estate-sale-just-sold-for-1-35m-at-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871743\/","title":{"rendered":"A $30 painting, found in a Michigan estate sale, just sold for $1.35M at auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n An enigmatic oil painting bought for just $30 at an estate sale fetched more than $1.35 million at auction after it was confirmed to be the work of celebrated surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 8-by-11-inch still-life was discovered in a \u201cdark corner\u201d of a Michigan home in July, according to Freeman\u2019s, the auction house that brought the painting to market this month. An expert has identified it as Abercrombie\u2019s \u201cAlderman Merriam\u2019s Shells,\u201d which had been unseen in public for almost 75 years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Completed in 1951, the painting depicts a collection of ten seashells \u2014 a common motif used by Abercrombie, who is often described as American art\u2019s \u201cBohemian Queen.\u201d Over the next two years, it was exhibited at six of the painter\u2019s solo exhibitions, then priced between $50 and $150.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the artist never sold the work, instead gifting it to a doctor in Kalamazoo, Michigan in exchange for medical services. The mysterious painting was then passed down through the doctor\u2019s estate following his death, before eventually appearing at July\u2019s estate sale.\n <\/p>\n

\n The lucky buyer, who has remained anonymous, is described by the auctioneer as \u201ca longtime hunter of record albums and mid-century furniture.\u201d Detailing the find, Freeman\u2019s said the painting had been discovered \u201ctucked in a dark corner of a hallway leading to the garage \u2014 overlooked by every other buyer that day.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Upon seeing the signature (reading \u201cAbercrombie, \u201851\u201d), barely visible against the dark background, the buyer took a $30 gamble. According to Freeman\u2019s, they then diverted a family vacation to visit Milwaukee Art Museum, where an Abercrombie exhibition<\/a> was on show. There, in an exhibition catalog, a 1952 news clipping<\/a> showed a photo of the painting next to the real-life shells it depicts.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The bargain hunter then took the artwork to Freeman\u2019s auction house, which was one of the exhibition sponsors. Abercrombie expert Susan Weininger, an art history professor at Roosevelt University, later authenticated the work as genuine \u2014 and still in its original frame. The painting was subsequently cleaned by art restorer Julian Baumgartner, who, in a video<\/a> documenting his work, described it as being in \u201cperfect condition,\u201d aside from some grime and clouded varnish<\/a> on its surface.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt was drab, missing its life, but now cleaned, retouched, and revarnished, it\u2019s alive and radiant,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The painting had been valued by Freeman\u2019s at $150,000 to $250,000, though bids at last Thursday\u2019s sale far surpassed estimates, setting a new auction record for Abercrombie\u2019s work. In 2025, Sotheby\u2019s sold another of Abercrombie\u2019s paintings, \u201cMessage for Mercy\u201d for a then-record of $1.02 million, more than triple its high estimate.\n <\/p>\n

\"16x9<\/p>\n

In other recent auction news…\n <\/p>\n

\"16x9<\/p>\n

In other recent auction news…<\/p>\n

2:43<\/p>\n

\n A largely self-taught artist, Abercrombie, who died in 1977, was renowned for her otherworldly, dream-like compositions. She was also known for hosting legendary salons at her home, in Chicago\u2019s Hyde Park, where jazz stars like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker often performed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Snail shells and seashells (along with owls, cats, mysterious doorways and, in her own words<\/a>, \u201csimple things that are a little strange\u201d) were recurring themes of her work. They often appeared cracked or marked with holes and set against Abercrombie\u2019s signature sparse backdrops, whether barren moonlit landscapes or deep black voids. Some of her other uncanny compositions placed shells beside cryptic flags<\/a> and dominoes or, in cases like 1967\u2019s \u201cSnail Woman,\u201d birthing abstracted female figures.\n <\/p>\n

\"Alderman<\/p>\n

\n Objects in Abercrombie\u2019s highly autobiographical works usually symbolized parts of her own experiences and identity, rather than abstract ideas. \u201cI always paint myself,\u201d she once said. Freeman\u2019s auction listing meanwhile suggests that shells \u201cserved as a talisman of friendship, typically gifted to those closest to her.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In a press release prior to Thursday\u2019s sale, the auction house\u2019s senior vice president Zachary Wirsum described the painting\u2019s rediscovery as \u201cmagnificent.\u201d He recalled telling visitors at the Milwaukee exhibition that Abercrombie\u2019s paintings do, occasionally, crop up at estate sales. \u201cLittle did I know that one of those \u2018once in a while\u2019s would occur less than a month later,\u201d Wirsum is quoted as saying.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An enigmatic oil painting bought for just $30 at an estate sale fetched more than $1.35 million at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-871743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}