New York art teacher’s thrift-store painting bought for under $100 sells for £189,200 after 60 years

A painting bought for less than $100 at a thrift store in White Plains, New York, in 1966 has been sold for £189,200 at auction after experts identified it as a work by Scottish artist Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell. According to Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull, the painting, titled 'Interior: The Lady in Black', remained in art teacher Helene Plotkin’s home for nearly six decades before her son’s investigation helped uncover its identity. The final price, including the buyer’s premium, was reported by the auction house and art-market publication Artnet News.Plotkin, who had an academic background in art history and studio practice, was drawn to the painting’s composition and use of colour when she encountered it while shopping in 1966. The work depicted an elegantly dressed woman seated in a red chair against a richly decorated interior. However, its signature was difficult to read, and its label identified it as 'Portrait of Miss Don Wauchope'. Unaware of its true provenance, Plotkin bought the picture and displayed it in her living room for years.The painting stayed with the family through decades of ordinary domestic life. Its significance came to light only after ...