Painting Sold For $12 At Eastern PA Auction May Be A Priceless Renoir

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — An antique collector may have turned up a priceless treasure when she won a $12 auction for a painting in Montgomery County in January.

Heidi Markow, who owns Salvage Goods in Easton, believes she's stumbled upon an original by the landmark French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Something caught Markow eye about the nude-style painting. Once Markow had it in hand for $12, she began to inspect it and noted a stamp on the back, indicating it was brought to America by a leading art dealer, Markow's website recounts.

"Heidi’s meticulous research and keen eye for detail have brought this hidden gem to light," her site adds. "Her expertise in appraisal and authentication has been instrumental in recognizing the significance of this piece."

The dealer whose stamp is on the painting is widely respected collector Louis C. Madeira IV, a former manager of Penn Museum in Philadelphia and curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Along with his wife Helen Tyson Madeira, he helped develop the international reputations of both institutions.

Leading art historians at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute have been in touch with Marco and are going to inspect the piece to prove its authenticity.

If it's truly an original, never-before-seen Renoir painting, its value is immeasurable.

Beyond the stamp, Markow noted the distinctive signature of Renoir on the painting, and marking and framing that match it to his period.

"Nude drawings by Renoir, especially from his early career, are exceptionally rare," she said. "This find represents a significant addition to the artist’s known body of work and offers new insights into his artistic process."

Renoir often painted women, and nude paintings are among his most famous and most celebrated.