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$30 Estate-Sale Find Becomes Record Abercrombie Sale
By @sharedot · · 7 pages
- Art
- Auctions
- Gertrude Abercrombie
- Art Discovery
Gertrude Abercrombie's 'Alderman Merriam's Shells,' bought for $30 at an estate sale, sold for $1,352,600, her first work past $1 million.
A Dark Corner, a Signature, and a $30 Gamble
A longtime collector of records and mid-century furniture spotted an 8-by-11-inch canvas in a dark hallway corner at a Kalamazoo, Michigan estate sale this past summer, per ArtDependence and Gulf News. It showed nine seashells on a slate-gray surface, but the lower-left signature read "abercrombie '51." He paid $30. Knowing a signature alone proves nothing, he dug deeper — even changing family holiday plans to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum's Abercrombie retrospective, according to Gulf News.
The Clue That Confirmed a Lost Masterpiece
At the exhibition *The Whole World Is a Mystery*, the buyer found the decisive evidence: the catalogue reproduced a 1952 Chicago Tribune photograph of the painting in its original frame beside the actual shells it depicts, as ArtDependence and The Times of India report. Dr. Susan Weininger, the leading Abercrombie scholar and professor emerita at Roosevelt University, then authenticated the work. The buyer, recognizing Freeman's as a sponsor of the Milwaukee show, entrusted the painting to the auction house.
Why the Painting Itself Matters
Painted in 1951, *Alderman Merriam's Shells* depicts a single conical shell suspended by a thread against a black wall, appearing to levitate above the rest. The shells belonged to Robert Merriam, alderman of Chicago's Hyde Park, where Abercrombie lived and worked. ArtDependence notes the work is a rare instance of Abercrombie painting directly from life, confirming the shell motif in her later solitary-shell paintings was drawn from observation rather than invention. Exhibited in six solo shows in 1952–53, it was given to Dr. John Reynolds of Kalamazoo in exchange for medical services and unseen publicly for 75 years.
The Record Hammer in New York
Freeman's estimated the work at $150,000–$250,000, per Gulf News. When bidding opened October 1 in New York, five telephone bidders and several online buyers battled, and the hammer fell at $1.06 million. With buyer's premium the total reached $1,352,600 — a new world auction record for Abercrombie and the first work by the artist ever to cross $1 million, as ArtDependence, Gulf News, and The Times of India all report.
A Storybook Ending and What's Next
Freeman's senior vice president Zack Wirsum told ArtDependence, "No fairytale would be complete without a storybook ending... as happily ever after as it gets," crediting the "eagle-eyed consignor who saved this masterpiece from staying forever lost to time." He added the rest of the sale "shone bright" beyond the Abercrombie highlight. For the collector who trusted his eye, a $30 gamble became a $1.35 million masterpiece — and the sale establishes a new benchmark for the Chicago Surrealist market.
Sources
- artdependence.com › From $30 Estate Sale Discovery to $1.35 Million: Abercrombie's Shells Sets New Auction Record
- gulfnews.com › He paid $30 for a painting at a Michigan estate sale. It sold for $1.35 million
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com › A Michigan collector paid $30 for a seashell painting at an estate sale; it sold for a record $1,352,600!