Why couldn’t it have happened to me?  Well, at least it happened to someone so that ALL of us could benefit: a woman bought a box of stuff at a flea market, rooted around in it and noticed a framed painting that caught her eye.

Upon closer examination she realized it was signed “Renoir.”  Experts have said that yes, indeed, this woman who chooses to remain anonymous has found a painting believed to be lost: Renoir’s Paysage Bords De Seine, a scene painting along the Seine River — a river my husband and I walked along several Paris days and nights in July of this year.

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/325124/woman-buys-possible-lost-renoir-painting-at-flea-market/

The painting, sold in France in 1925, was later sold to a Maryland collector, Herbert May.  But just how the painting got from Mr. May to a box of junk sold for under $50 in Virginia is unclear.

The painting will be auctioned September 29.

This is a case where a painted that wasn’t even known to be missing turned up, so maybe there is still hope for those paintings we are still looking for!

In any case, I think all of us will be taking a closer look at boxes of bargains at flea markets and garage sales near us.

Soon let’s do a blog soon where we “read,” a painting, shall we?  Perhaps we can revisit this one and as mentor of mine says, “See what there is to see.”

UPDATE: The auction did not happen.  Why not?  Because it was discovered that this painting was stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1951.  Well, even though the painting will likely not net a financial boost for the “lucky” finder, it does return a piece of art to the world.  She can be proud to have been a part of the process.