Gertrude Abercrombie Painting Found For $30 To Sell For $250,000

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A Gertrude Abercrombie painting, once priced at $30 at a Michigan estate sale, is now headed to auction with an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. The work, titled Alderman Merriam's Shells ( 1951 ), had been missing for decades before its recent rediscovery.

According to Freeman's auction house, which will offer the painting in October during its postwar and contemporary art sale, the still life of seashells in a deep void was spotted this summer. It was found hanging in a dark hallway at a“picked-over” estate sale, bearing a $30 price tag and a nearly overlooked“Abercrombie” signature.

The painting's finder,“uncertain but intrigued,” brought the canvas to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which was hosting an Abercrombie survey. An archival photograph of the exact painting was serendipitously included in the exhibition catalog. This image had originally appeared in a 1952 Chicago Review piece on Abercrombie's exhibition at Newman Brown Gallery. Leading Abercrombie scholar Susan Weininger authenticated the artwork, after which it was consigned to Freeman's, a sponsor of the Milwaukee show.

The auction house noted that the shells depicted belonged to Robert Merriam, an alderman in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, where Abercrombie lived and worked. Bidding for the painting will commence at $75,000.

Zachary Wirsum, senior vice president and head of Freeman's postwar and contemporary art department, expressed his astonishment. He had recently told visitors at the Milwaukee exhibition that Abercrombie's works occasionally surface at estate sales. Wirsum commented,“Little did I know that one of those 'once in a while's would occur less than a month later.”

We previously reported:

Christie's is auctioning 31 Pablo Picasso prints in London, including three rare portraits of Jacqueline Roque, with an estimated total of £2.8 million.

Two Bob Ross paintings, originally purchased on Craigslist a decade ago, are expected to fetch six figures at a September 15 auction.

Eight paintings from the collection of late record producer Clive Davis, estimated at over $35 million, will be offered at Christie's November sales in New

Source: ARTnews

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