Frank Weston Benson Painting Found at Goodwill
Someone dropped off an old watercolor painting that was likely passed from family member to family member, but no one knew the actual value of the dusty old picture. It was a rare watercolor by Frank Weston Benson, whose other paintings are in musuems and art galleries all over the country.
Goodwill sold the painting for 165,000. I think it should have been sold for more.
From NBC4 here:
Painting Donated To Goodwill Fetches $165,000
Goodwill: Owner May Not Have Know Painting’s WorthPORTLAND, Ore. — A painting dropped off at a Goodwill store in Portland, Ore., by an anonymous donor sold for $165,002 Thursday during an auction on the organization’s Web site.
Bidding on the painting, a 1923 watercolor by the American impressionist Frank Weston Benson, started at $10 on Oct. 12. The bidding soared after the painting was authenticated by the owner of a Portland gallery.
“We get donations that have come through the generations of a family, and as it goes from one person to the next the true value may not be understood,” she said. “I’ve seen that many, many times.”
This is one of Benson’s most famous paintings, “Summer 1909”
I recently bought a painting through goodwill that is the painting Eleanor.. How can I tell if it is real or not…
Good Question. I would first try to contact any museum that had any expertise in the painter and try to have it authenticated. Even original prints can be valuable.
This was my painting I dropped off at the Hillsboro Goodwill back in Sept. 2006. We were moving and I bought it at a goodwill for 4.99. I was going to sell it on ebay but I could not make out the name of the artist after holding on to it for a few months. So I decided I would just donate it back. Then a couple months later I saw this article in the Oregonian..I was sick