A WOMAN HAS acquired an original Daniel O’Neill painting for just $1 in a thrift store in the US, which has now been estimated to be worth between $4,000 (€3,251) and $10,000 (€8,129).
The painting was set with a price tag of $1.99. However, it was sold during a 50% off sale and the customer purchased it for just $1 (€0.81).
“I knew nothing about the artist, but I knew it was an original oil painting. Plus, I just liked the colours in it, so I thought, well I will just buy it to research the artist,” the buyer, Stacey Muhammad from Phoenix, Arizona said.
Muhammad sent the painting to an online appraisal service, Mearto, that connects people with art and antique experts.
It was here that the painting was attributed to Irish painter Daniel O’Neill.
O’Neill was born in 1920 in Belfast. He was a self-taught artist and began his career painting in his spare time, while working as an electrician.
He later secured a gallery contract and began working as a full-time artist. During his lifetime, O’Neill’s work was mostly exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy. Most recently, some of his paintings appeared in the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
O’Neill is a highly sought after artist and his work frequently sells at auction houses like Adam’s Actions, Whyte’s and Ross’s Auctions.
Muhammad explained how she came to the realisation that O’Neill was a well-known artist.
“After taking [the painting] home and researching the artist I didn’t find much, but I did notice that the artist has had paintings that were sold in auctions, but I didn’t know what they sold for,” she said.
“I don’t necessarily have an eye for rare or expensive art but the painting was interesting to look at, so I took a chance to see if it was worth anything.
After receiving the appraisal, I was excited and surprised by its potential value, so I took it to a local auction house where they were also super excited and they too appraised it and convinced me to let them auction it for me.
This week, the painting was left at the auction house for a clean and is now being prepared for auction in the coming weeks.
Further information about the painting can be found here.
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