Renoir or Not? $12 Drawing Sparks Six-Figure Buzz
An antique store owner in Pennsylvania realized her inexpensive auction purchase might be the work of the celebrated French Impressionist.
The framed charcoal drawing of a seated woman caught Heidi Markow’s eye when she visited an auction in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in January. “I didn’t know what it was, I just knew that I wanted it,” Markow, owner of Salvage Goods Antiques in Easton, told ABC News. Although it was among the artworks she recalls that were “being bid up into the thousands,” the drawing cost only $12. Markow could immediately tell it was “something special.”
It wasn’t until after Markow and her family returned home from the auction that she noticed a faint signature on the picture. The name looked like “Renoir,” as in Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1819), the influential French painter who founded the Impressionist movement along with Monet.
Other clues, like the quality of the frame and even the type of paper, indicated the drawing’s possible value. The frame had a stamp on the back from an importer of art and antiques, with further information suggesting that it was previously sold to an art collector in Pennsylvania. Markow’s observations and notes are further detailed in a blog entry on the Salvage Goods website.
After months of research, Markow contacted Sotheby’s auction house, which referred her to an art appraiser. The appraiser agreed that the drawing is likely by Renoir.
Markow submitted the drawing to the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, a nonprofit organization in New York that researches and studies art history and digitizes artworks and historical materials. Their review is scheduled for April 10, 2025.
“I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet,” Markow told NBC10 in Philadelphia. If the drawing is a confirmed Renoir, “It can go for six figures, seven figures.” Markow hopes to sell it to an appreciative collector if that is the case.
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