One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
A longtime New York-based art dealer stumbled upon a painting at a Hamptons barn sale for which he paid just $50 — and now the rare piece is expected to be auctioned off for six figures.
Allen Treibitz spotted and purchased the artwork — depicting a carved grizzly bear atop of a memorial totem pole — a few months back, despite being unfamiliar with the famed artist who painted the piece, CTV News reported.
After conducting some research and consulting with an auction house in Canada, Treibitz quickly realized his “Cinderella discovery” of a lost Emily Carr painting — titled “Masset, Q.C.I.” — was worth up to $200,000.
“I see a lot of very interesting things (but) this one is … the most significant thing I’ve ever found,” said Treibitz, who’s been selling art for more than 40 years.
“The fact that it was found and that it is back to its home place is very important.”
Treibitz paid $50 for the painting at the barn sale after realizing he found something “extraordinary,” telling CTV News that the expressive artwork stood out.
He researched the artist and learned the work of the iconic Canadian painter was far more valuable than what he paid, later turning to David Heffel, president of Canada’s Heffel Fine Art Auction House, who confirmed its worth.
“We were provided photos and there was no doubt in my mind that this was an exciting Cinderella discovery,” Heffel said, according to CTV News.
The painting will be auctioned on Nov. 20 in Toronto, with its value estimated at $100,000 to $200,000.
Carr painted the artwork in 1912 in an effort to document the artistic heritage of British Columbia’s First Nations communities. It depicts an Indigenous memorial post that stood in Masset, a village on the province’s Haida Gwaii archipelago, the outlet reported.
The painting is believed to have been gifted by Carr to friends in the 1930s and remained hanging in the Hampton’s barn ever since.
Heffel said the artwork was found in its original frame and stretching, noting that it hadn’t changed since it was placed in the barn.
“It needed a good cleaning and freshening up,” he told CTV News.
The painting will be featured at Heffel galleries across multiple cities before it’s auctioned, but Treibitz hopes the painting will find a new home in a museum or with a collector of Carr’s work.
