Drawing $ 12 purchased on Antique Store can be a renoir – and worth $ 1 million

This lucky woman found a adapted and famous treasure.

A woman in Pennsylvania believes the $ 12 drawing she bought in an ancient store can be an original piece of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, worth potentially $ 1 million.

Heidi Markow, owner of Salvage Goods Antiques in Easton, was recently at an auction at an ancient store in Montgomery County in January when a nude woman draws her eye.

“I didn’t catch it. I didn’t return. I basically looked at it and thought,” I just love that part, “Markow told the Philadelphia WPVI station.

She told her partner and her son to bid in 17.5-inch from 16.5 inches and continued to wander around.

Other articles at auction are sold for thousands. Her choice went for just $ 12.

“This part just stayed with me as something special,” she told ABC News.

And when she inspected artwork at home, she realized she was probably right.

Markow, a certified art evaluator, noted the “meticulous state” of the ancient framework, the type of paper and a stamp on the back that means it was brought to the United States by a high -level importer and sold to a prominent collector.

These data led the expert to conclude that the pale signature she noticed belongs to the legendary French impressionist Renoir.

Research has led him to suspect that the part is a portrait of Renoir’s wife, Aline Charigot, dating back to the late 1800s during his period Mrres, when “he paid much attention to light and shadows.”

To be sure, she contacted Sotheby’s to refer to an art estimator for a second thought.

“He looked at him and said he agrees with me. Thus, he said,” Congratulations, “she told WPVI.

Markow then reached the prestigious Wildenstein Plattner (WPI) Institute, a NYC -based non -profit that preserves art history. The team is scheduled to certify the part on April 10, a process she called “rigorous”.

“They are harsh enough with their examination. I’m with optimistic care,” Markow said.

Renoir was an artist trusted with the co-founding of the Impressionist Movement along with Claude Monet, best known for describing Parisian leisure in vivid colors.

If the part is verified as an original renoir, Markow hopes to sell it – for “six or seven figures” – for someone who appreciates the impressionist art and will display it in their home.

“That’s what I call a masterpiece adapted,” Markow ABC News told.