A painting bought for $30 and found in a “dark corner” was sold at auction for $1.35 million

A mysterious oil painting purchased for just $30 at an estate sale was sold at auction for more than $1.35 million after it was confirmed to be the work of renowned surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie. UNN reports this, citing CNN.

Details

According to auction house Freeman’s, which offered the painting for sale this month, the 8-by-11-inch (approximately 20 by 28 cm) still life was discovered in a "dark corner" of a Michigan estate in July. An expert identified it as Abercrombie’s painting "Alderman Merriam’s Shells," which had not been publicly exhibited for nearly 75 years.

Completed in 1951, the painting depicts a collection of ten seashells—a common motif used by Abercrombie, who is often called America’s "queen of bohemian art." Over the next two years, the painting was featured in six solo exhibitions by the artist, and at the time its price ranged from $50 to $150.

However, the artist never sold the work, instead giving it to a doctor in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in exchange for medical services. After the doctor’s death, the mysterious painting was passed down through the family before appearing at the July auction.

According to the auctioneer, the lucky buyer, who has remained anonymous, was a "longtime hunter of vinyl records and mid-century furniture." Describing the find in detail, Freeman’s said that the painting was discovered "in a dark corner of a hallway leading to the garage—it had gone unnoticed by all the other buyers that day."

After spotting the signature (which reads "Abercrombie, 51"), barely visible against the dark background, the buyer took a chance, spending $30. According to Freeman’s, they then rescheduled a family vacation to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, where an Abercrombie exhibition was being held. There, in the exhibition catalog, a 1952 news clipping showed a photograph of the painting alongside the actual shells depicted in it.

The bargain hunter then took the artwork to Freeman’s auction house, which had been one of the exhibition’s sponsors. Abercrombie expert Susan Weininger, a professor of art history at Roosevelt University, later confirmed that the work was authentic—and still in its original frame. The painting was subsequently cleaned by conservator Julian Baumgartner, who described it in a video documenting his work as being in "perfect condition," apart from some dirt and cloudy varnish on its surface.

"It was dull, lifeless, but now, cleaned, retouched, and revarnished, it is alive and glowing," he said.

Freeman’s estimated the painting at $150,000–$250,000, although bids at last Thursday’s auction far exceeded the estimate, setting a new auction record for a work by Abercrombie. In 2025, Sotheby’s sold another Abercrombie painting, "Message for Mercy," for a then-record $1.02 million, more than triple its estimate.

Abercrombie, a self-taught artist who died in 1977, was known for her otherworldly, fairytale-like compositions. She was also known for hosting legendary salons at her home in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where jazz stars such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker often performed.

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