Long-lost painting by Chicago artist Gertrude Abercrombie found at estate sale sells for $1.35 million at auction
A painting lost for decades by a renowned Chicago artist bought at a Michigan estate sale for just $30 was just sold at auction for $1.35 million.
"Alderman Merriam's Shells" was painted by Gertrude Abercrombie in 1951 and feature a collection of shells from Chicago Alderman Robert Merriam. Merriam represented the city's 5th Ward from 1947 to 1955, which included Hyde Park where Abercrombie lived and was a prominent member of the city's art and music communities.
The painting was gifted to a doctor in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in exchange for medical services in 1952. It was exhibited in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee and Evanston between 1952 and 1953, seen for the final time at the Chicago Design Center in 1953. After that it just… disappeared.
Until this year. That's when a picker went to an estate sale in Kalamazoo, looking for vinyl records. While he was there, a painting caught his eye. When he turned it over, he saw a name on the back, which he thought he recognized.
He purchased the painting for $30. It sold at auction on Thursday for $1.35 million.
The sale price is a new world auction record for Abercrombie's works, a spokesperson for Freeman's Auctions said. Freeman's handled the sale of the painting Thursday.
Art experts say "Alderman Merriam's Shells" marks turning point in Abercrombie's career, when she began leaning more into surrealism in her paintings. It features a set of shells on a dark background, with one shell hovering in a stark black void like it's been nailed there.
While it may seem a simple still life on the surface, there are mysterious effects at play. Each shell has its own light source, positioned at opposing angles. The black background where the single shell hovers looks like infinite space. It also includes the very first time the artist painted the cracked seashell that became a recurring motif in the rest of her career.
The estate sale where the buyer found the painting belonged to Dr. John T. Reynolds, the doctor who it had been gifted to more than 70 years ago. Restoration work before auction was performed by Chicago company Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration.
The painting's original estimate at auction was for $15,000-$250,000. It sold for nearly 10 times that.
Abercrombie died in 1977.
