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A painting snagged at an estate sale for just $30 sold at auction for a record-breaking $1.35 million.
The late famed surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie’s “Alderman Merriam’s Shells,” which was purchased by a fortunate thrifter with an eye for quality art, sold on Thursday at Freeman’s Auctions on the Upper East Side.
“Obviously, we are over the moon about the record-setting result,” Zachary Wirsum, senior vice president at Freeman’s, told the Chicago Sun Times. “What a return on a $30 investment!”
The buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, happened upon the painting at the July estate sale of Dr. John T. Reynolds of Kalamazoo, Michigan, who had been gifted it by Abercrombie as payment for medical services in 1952, according to Freeman’s.
The shopper — who collects vinyl records and furniture — was drawn to the 8×11 oil-on-masonite painting after seeing that the lower-left corner was signed “Abercrombie, ’51.”
The painting depicts 10 seashells owned by Robert Merriam of the Chicago City Council, who represented Hyde Park, where Abercrombie — a well-known figure in the Windy City’s mid-20th century art scene — resided and painted.
The one-of-a-kind work “offers a glimpse into the inception of one of the artist’s signature Surrealist motifs, as well as its striking composition, both technically and conceptually,” Wirsum told Elle Decor.
The historic sale broke the record for the most expensive work by Abercrombie, who died at age 68 in 1977, sold at auction.
The record was previously held by her 1950 painting “Message for Mercy,” which went for $1.02 million at Sotheby’s in November.
