Maud Lewis painting found in thrift store sells for $45,000 in auction
A painting recently discovered at an Ontario thrift store by renowned folk artist Maud Lewis sold in auction for almost three times its estimated price.
The online auction ended Friday night and the painting, which was appraised at $16,000, went for $45,000.
Rick Cober Bauman, the executive director of Mennonite Central Committee Ontario, said it’s been quite the journey since “Portrait of Eddie Barnes and Ed Murphy, Lobster Fishermen” was found a little more than a year ago by volunteers sorting through donations in the New Hamburg, Ont., thrift shop his organization runs.
At one point, the auction had to be stopped and restarted because someone bid $125,000 in bad faith.