Bought a $20 thrift store painting that turned out to be worth $600

Found this weird landscape at a Goodwill in Denver last weekend, had a frame with a tiny gallery sticker on the back that I looked up later - turns out it's from a local artist who sells for way more. Has anyone else ever scored something valuable from a random thrift find?

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jamiegreen3mo ago

Huh, that sounds cool but I'm kind of skeptical. Just because some gallery sticker says it's by a local artist doesn't mean the painting is actually worth $600. Could be that sticker was from a random exhibit, not proof of value. I mean, thrift stores aren't exactly known for hiding legit art. You'd probably have to get it appraised by someone who knows what they're doing, not just look up a name. A lot of times people see a price online and assume it's their piece, but condition and authenticity matter way more. I'd wait before telling everyone you scored some big find.

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jason9583mo ago

Had a similar thing happen to me years ago. Found an old landscape painting at Goodwill with a gallery label on the back from some place in Santa Fe. Looked up the name and saw similar pieces listed for a few hundred bucks. Got excited. Took it to a local appraiser and he basically told me the gallery label was just a framing shop sticker, not proof the artist was anyone special. The painting was fine for decoration but worth maybe 40 bucks. So yeah, that appraisal step is really the only way to know for sure.

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