A painting by celebrated Chicago artist Gertrude Abercrombie, which had been missing for decades, has sold for $1.35 million (Rs 13 Crore) after being discovered at a Michigan estate sale for just $30 (Rs 2800). The artwork, titled Alderman Merriam’s Shells, was painted in 1951.
It was sold by Freeman’s auction house in New York and set a new world auction record for Abercrombie, according to CBS News.
CBS News noted that Abercrombie was an important figure in Chicago’s art and music communities. She lived in Hyde Park and was closely connected to the city’s jazz scene. It ultimately sold for $1,352,600, including the buyer’s premium, according to Freeman’s. The auction house said the result was the first time an Abercrombie work had passed the $1 million mark. She died in 1977. The extraordinary sale has turned a $30 estate-sale discovery into one of the most valuable works ever sold by the Chicago artist.
