Hidden for Decades Among Fur Coats, a Priceless Georgia O’Keeffe Masterpiece Emerges — Could It Sell for $3 Million?
So, picture this: an elderly New York woman, just casually inviting her niece over to sift through decades of belongings— and casually drops that she’s been stashing away a lost masterpiece by Georgia O’Keeffe in her closet. No big deal, right? Well, turns out that dusty old box hidden behind fur coats isn’t just any forgotten trinket; it’s a 1930 original painting, Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, tucked away for more than 40 years and now poised to rake in a staggering $3 to $5 million at auction. Can you imagine keeping something worth more than your house tucked behind mothballs and scarves? It’s like winning the art world lottery without even knowing you bought a ticket! Let’s unpack this wild tale of hidden art, secret legacies, and one woman’s quiet nod to extraordinary taste. LEARN MORE
When an elderly New York woman invited her niece to her apartment to help go through her things and get her affairs in order, she casually mentioned that she’d been holding onto a lost masterwork from one of the 20th century’s most iconic artists.
Christie’sThis rediscovered Georgia O’Keeffe painting from 1930, Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, is estimated to sell at auction for between $3 million and $5 million.
A 65-year-old woman was going through her elderly aunt’s East Village apartment when she made a shocking discovery. A Georgia O’Keeffe painting was tucked inside its original box in her aunt’s closet, behind dozens of fur coats — right where it had been sitting for decades.
The 1930 painting, Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, is believed to have been the first in a three-painting series of Lobo Peak in New Mexico. Now rediscovered after more than 40 years in the closet, the painting will be auctioned by Christie’s on November 17, when it’s expected to fetch anywhere from $3 million to $5 million.
The Discovery Of A Lost Georgia O’Keeffe Painting In A New York Woman’s Closet
When the woman — who has only been referred to by her middle name, Betsy — first made the discovery, she was of course shocked.
“I thought, wow, that’s pretty wild,” Betsy told The New York Post. “I wondered, ‘Is there any way I can keep this?’ … But once we started exploring what the value of the piece was, I realized that it’s worth more than my house.”
Betsy said that her aunt, who has since passed, had been an excellent Foreign Service worker and was a worldly woman. Betsy added that her aunt received the O’Keeffe painting in 1963 as a college graduation gift from her parents.
Christie’sBetsy’s elderly aunt repackaged the painting in its original box and hid it in her closet for decades.
The painting was purchased from the Downtown Gallery on 51st Street, which was O’Keeffe’s New York dealer, for $3,800, or around $42,000 today.
Betsy said that her aunt had the O’Keeffe on the wall of her apartment for years, until she became wary of a guest sizing up the painting too closely. At some point in the 1980s, the aunt packaged the 10-by-24-inch painting back into its original box and hid it behind rows of fur coats in her closet.
“I think she was fully aware of its value,” Betsy told The Post. “She disliked drawing attention to herself.”
Betsy said that she and her other family members were not even told about the painting until 2022, when her aunt said offhandedly that she had “a Georgia O’Keeffe in the hall closet.”
Christie’sThe only prior record of the painting came from this 1931 photograph taken by O’Keeffe’s husband, Alfred Stieglitz.
However, Betsy did not actually come across the painting until recent weeks, when her 98-year-old aunt was preparing to enter hospice care.
“To uncover a seminal work — representative of this 20th century master’s deep personal engagement with the landscape, a pillar of her career, which is exquisitely rendered and well preserved — is a once-in-a-lifetime moment and absolutely thrilling,” Tylee Abbott, International Director of American Art at Christie’s, said in a statement.
The Significance Of Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I In Georgia O’Keeffe’s Legendary Career
The painting showcases a warm, smooth landscape made up of rolling hills, which Christie’s has identified as an early version of the abstract New Mexico landscapes she would continue to paint throughout her career.
O’Keeffe lived in New Mexico for the last 40 years of her life, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe holds many of her Southwest works.
Public DomainGeorgia O’Keeffe’s Southwest paintings — like this 1935 work, Ram’s Head, White Hollyhock-Hills — stand among her most well known to this day.
“O’Keeffe goes to New Mexico in 1929, and this picture is from 1930, so it’s the ground floor of her inspiration at that time,” Abbott told CBS News. “And she is very vocal about, in her writings and things, about how impactful it was on her. I think you get that in this picture.”
Christie’s believes the painting is the first of three pieces that depict Lobo Peak in New Mexico, with the second belonging to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the third in a private collection.
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