A painting that was won for 18,000 won, it turned out that it was worth billions of won?
Mar 28, 2025
|
Heidi Markow, who runs an antique store in Eastern, Pennsylvania, recently attended an antique auction and purchased a nude female painting, according to U.S. media such as ABC News and the New York Post. The price she purchased was $12 (about 18,000 won). The painting was a charcoal painting of a nude woman.
Other paintings at auction were sold for between $1,000 and $3,000, but luck followed and this painting was available at a low price.
Markow, who is also a certified art appraiser, said "I didn't look closely at the work, but it stood out and I was just attracted"
When I returned home and looked behind the frame, I saw a type of paper, a stamp on the back, and there was a clue that showed that an importer had brought it to the United States and sold it to a prominent collector.
There was also a faint signature, which she presumed belonged to the legendary French Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Renoir (25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a pioneer of French Impressionist painting.
He left more than 6,000 oil paintings during his lifetime, and representative works include 's Swing', 'Country Ball', and 'Girls Playing the Piano'.
Markow judged that the work he won was a portrait of Renoir's wife, Arlene Charigo.
She referred her opinion to a fellow art appraiser working at Sotheby's auction.
Afterwards "I agree with you. Congratulations" came a reply.
Markow left the appraisal to an art history research organization in New York to be more reliably certified.
The results are not yet forthcoming, but she says "I'm cautiously optimistic"
If the work is identified as genuine Renoir, it is said to be worth six to seven numbers (hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars).
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
