Newell Converse Wyeth. If this name doesn't mean anything to you, it could well make the happiness of an American who is about to make a record capital gain on one of her works.

The beginning of this crazy story dates back to 2017, in Manchester in the United Kingdom. While she was simply looking for a second-hand frame, the buyer came across a painting: Detail of Ramona signed Newell Convers Wyeth. There was then another person for whom this name was unknown: the seller, who sold it for only $4.

From then on, the buyer began research to determine whether it was an authentic work, without success. She therefore decided to hang the painting in her room for a while before trying her luck again a few years later by posting an ad on a specialized Facebook page. Internet users recommended that he consult a former curator who worked on the artist's works as well as a museum in Pennsylvania which keeps a large number of his paintings. Some research later, this painting is authenticated and given to the Bonhams auction house for sale. Auctioned on September 19, the painting is estimated between $150,000 and $250,000.

After telling this unusual story, we can only recommend that you take a closer look at the paintings that you come across in a flea market or those that you store in your attic: they could well be rare gems. For our part, the story of this American has clearly awakened the bargain hunter who slumbered in us...