1. Flea market painting was a Renoir
A woman who paid seven US dollars for a box of trinkets at a West Virginia flea market two
years ago apparently acquired an original painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste
Renoir without knowing it.
The woman considered discarding the painting to salvage its frame, but instead made an
appointment to have it evaluated in July by the Potomack auction house in Alexandria, said its
fine arts director Anne Craner.
When she pulled the painting out of a rubbish bag she carried it in, Ms Craner was nearly
certain the painting was a Renoir with its distinct colours, light and brushwork. A plaque on the
front labelled it Renoir.
“My gut said that it was right, but you have to then check,” she said.
French handwriting on the back of the canvass included a label and number. Ms Craner turned
to the catalogue by French gallery Bernheim-Jeune that has published all of Renoir’s work.
“Low and behold, it was in volume one,” she said.
An image of the painting was published in black and white, and the gallery’s stock number
matched the flea market find. So she made a digital image of the flea market painting,
converted it to black and white for a closer look, and the brush…
timesofmalta.com
http://www.allplacedout.com/flea-market-painting-was-a-renoir/
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