Gertrude Abercrombie Painting Bought For $30 Sells For Record $1.3 Million

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A painting by artist Gertrude Abercrombie (1909-77), originally acquired for just $30 at a Michigan estate sale last summer, achieved $1.3 million at a Freeman's auction in New York on Thursday. This sale significantly surpassed its high estimate of $200,000 and established a new world auction record for the artist.

The 8-inch-by-11-inch work, titled“Alderman Merriam's Shells” (1951), commanded a price that represents a 33% increase over Abercrombie's previous auction record of $1 million. That earlier record was set by“Message for Mercy” (1950) at Sotheby's in New York last November, according to data from Arthur Analytics. The artist's secondary-market record had remained under $1 million, at $864,000, as recently as early 2025.

David Weiss, a senior vice president and auctioneer at Freeman's, encouraged attendees to“Keep going to those estate sales” as bidding commenced. Even the painting's low presale estimate of $150,000 was 5,000 times the initial purchase price.

Abercrombie, who was a central figure among artists and musicians in Chicago's Hyde Park, including friends such as jazz musicians Dizzie Gillespie and Charlie Parker, had traded“Alderman Merriam's Shells” to Dr. John Reynolds in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for surgical services. Expert Susan Weininger confirmed Reynolds was the sole owner from the early 1980s until the work vanished into his estate, despite being loaned to several significant museum exhibitions during his ownership.

Zack Wirsum, Freeman's head of post-war and contemporary art, described himself as“gobsmacked” upon first seeing an image of the painting. He received an email notification about the discovery on the July 4th weekend while preparing for a hike in Arkansas.“As soon as I clicked on the image I think I exclaimed an expletive, and I knew that it was just an incredible example by her. And one I had never seen,” Wirsum told The Art Newspaper.

Abercrombie lacked consistent gallery representation, with some of her surreal works sold through department stores like Marshall Fields. Her paintings, often featuring solitary figures and peculiar elements against haunting backdrops, captivated a devoted, though regionally focused, audience. Interest in her work was revitalized by a 2018 exhibition organized by curator Dan Nadel at Karma gallery in New York, followed by a critically acclaimed show at the Elmhurst Art Museum, outside Chicago, organized by Jenny Gibbs. Nadel previously noted that Abercrombie's art had“sparked something” and represented a“kind pop magic moment in the Midwest” after the Second World War.

Following the record-setting sale, Wirsum, the son of artist Karl Wirsum, stated,“No fairytale would be complete without a storybook ending.” He called the outcome“as happily ever after as it gets,” adding that he and the auction house team were“even happier for our eagle-eyed consignor who saved this masterpiece from staying forever lost to time.”

We previously reported:

A painting by American Surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie, bought for $30 at an estate sale, is expected to fetch $250,000 at Freeman's New York.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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