Pic credit: Bonhams Skinner
Bonhams Skinner announced it would go to auction in September 2023 with an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. So, the bidding began at $150,000. An Australian buyer placed the only bid, driving the price to $191,000 with the buyer’s premium. Lehmann called Donahue at 3 a.m. and fixed the sale, according to the Times. Over $100,000. It’s certainly less than the failed auction, but more than what anyone expected from a $4 thrift-store find!
At the time, she also told reporters that she was relieved they hadn’t spent money in advance, but the emotional letdown was real. Donahue said goodbye to the painting, collected the money, called her son in Germany and informed him they were visiting. Wyeth’s work, especially his book illustrations, has great value. His paintings have hung in major museums. His legacy has shaped American visual culture. Donahue was thrilled. She had plans for that money. She and her family wanted to use the money to visit their son in Germany, a trip they had been putting off for years. But then nothing happened. The potential buyer went silent. Bonhams Skinner cancelled the sale and returned the painting. Donahue called it her ‘biggest disappointment ever’. A few months later, Aviva Lehmann, an auctioneer at Heritage Auctions, saw the news about the failed sale and immediately thought of a private collector she knew, someone serious enough and wealthy enough to care about owning a rare Wyeth. The painting was finally sold. The final price? More importantly, the money actually arrived. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
In 2017, she picked up a painting at a thrift store for $4. By fall 2023, it was heading to auction with a $150,000 to $250,000 estimate. The winning bid came in at $191,000. Just when Donahue was beginning to lose hope, a private collector showed up and bought the painting for more than $100,000. In 2017, Tracy Donahue walked into a Savers thrift store in Manchester, New Hampshire. After all, it only cost $4. In May 2023, while tidying her home, she spotted the painting again and noticed something: a signature label on the back. Wyeth for the 1939 edition of Helen Hunt Jackson’s Ramona.
And just like that, Donahue took home the long-lost work of the artist for less than the price of a drink. The work was one of only four that Wyeth had created for that edition, and most of them had been lost to time.
“We look at all the donations we receive, and we place a value on them as best we can,” Savers manager Shaun Edson told the New York Times later. Pic credit: Bonhams Skinner Tracy Donahue hung the painting in her bedroom for years, and then eventually stored it in a closet, according to a report by CNN. She posted a photo to a Facebook group called ‘Things Found in Walls’, which is dedicated to “stories of things you have found in walls, dug up in your backyard, or in that abandoned house across the street from your grandma’s,” according to the group’s description. After verification, Lewis was “99% certain it was authentic,” The Boston Globe reported. “While it certainly had some small scratches and it could use a surface clean, it was in remarkable condition considering none of us had any idea of its journey over the last 80 years. ” That painting was a frontispiece illustration by N.C.
Every thrifter dreams of it: buying something for less than a pizza, discovering it’s actually valuable, and walking away with a fortune. For Tracy Donahue, a New Hampshire resident, the dream happened to be real. She hung it in her bedroom and forgot about it. Six years later, she’d find out it was a genuine N.C. Wyeth, one of the most celebrated American illustrators of the 20th century. Weeks passed. The sale was eventually cancelled. Donahue had already planned what she would do with the money. She and her family had hoped to use the proceeds to visit their son in Germany. But the buyer vanished. She was hunting for picture frames when she spotted it: a dusty oil painting wedged among discarded posters at the store. The painting spoke to her. She was curious about the women. Who are they? Why are they so tense? And the only answer she had was: this painting is coming home. She paid the money and clunked it into the cart. She had no idea she was wheeling out an oil panel by N.C. Wyeth, who is known for works including ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’. The store, too, wasn’t aware of its value. “We are not connoisseurs of paintings. We do our best to evaluate the pieces and value them appropriately. She never would have known without spring cleaning. She asked if anyone knew anything about it. Within hours, her inbox filled with comments. This wasn’t just old. This was valuable. Lauren Lewis, an art conservator, saw the post. She had worked with paintings by three generations of the Wyeths: N.C. Wyeth, his son Andrew Wyeth and his grandson Jamie Wyeth. Lewis reached out. She drove three hours to Donahue’s home to examine the piece in person. It featured two women: a young maiden and her rigid foster mother.
