Painting bought for $100 in US charity shop sells for £190,000

Nairavoice | Jun 5, 2026 142 0 2 min read
Painting bought for $100 in US charity shop sells for £190,000

<div class&equals;"wp-block-wptelegram-widget-join-channel aligncenter">&NewLine;&Tab;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;t&period;me&sol;nairavoice" class&equals;"components-button join-link is-large has-text has-icon" target&equals;"&lowbar;self" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<svg width&equals;"19px" height&equals;"16px" viewBox&equals;"0 0 19 16" role&equals;"img" aria-hidden&equals;"true" focusable&equals;"false">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<g>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<path d&equals;"M0&period;465&comma;6&period;638 L17&period;511&comma;0&period;073 C18&period;078&comma;-0&period;145 18&period;714&comma;0&period;137 18&period;932&comma;0&period;704 C19&period;009&comma;0&period;903 19&period;026&comma;1&period;121 18&period;981&comma;1&period;33 L16&period;042&comma;15&period;001 C15&period;896&comma;15&period;679 15&period;228&comma;16&period;111 14&period;549&comma;15&period;965 C14&period;375&comma;15&period;928 14&period;211&comma;15&period;854 14&period;068&comma;15&period;748 L8&period;223&comma;11&period;443 C7&period;874&comma;11&period;185 7&period;799&comma;10&period;694 8&period;057&comma;10&period;345 C8&period;082&comma;10&period;311 8&period;109&comma;10&period;279 8&period;139&comma;10&period;249 L14&period;191&comma;4&period;322 C14&period;315&comma;4&period;201 14&period;317&comma;4&period;002 14&period;195&comma;3&period;878 C14&period;091&comma;3&period;771 13&period;926&comma;3&period;753 13&period;8&comma;3&period;834 L5&period;602&comma;9&period;138 C5&period;112&comma;9&period;456 4&period;502&comma;9&period;528 3&period;952&comma;9&period;333 L0&period;486&comma;8&period;112 C0&period;077&comma;7&period;967 -0&period;138&comma;7&period;519 0&period;007&comma;7&period;11 C0&period;083&comma;6&period;893 0&period;25&comma;6&period;721 0&period;465&comma;6&period;638 Z" ><&sol;path>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;g>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;svg>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;Join Nairavoice On Telegram&Tab;<&sol;a>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<figure><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;static&period;files&period;bbci&period;co&period;uk&sol;bbcdotcom&sol;web&sol;20260609-143108-fe43574f32-web-3&period;9&period;0-5&sol;grey-placeholder&period;png" &sol;><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;ichef&period;bbci&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;480&sol;cpsprodpb&sol;c9b5&sol;live&sol;8cd592a0-60da-11f1-82ca-1380a42b6773&period;jpg&period;webp" &sol;>Lyon &amp&semi; Turnbull&sol;PA<&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>A painting bought for less than &dollar;100 &lpar;£75&rpar; in a US charity shop in the 1960s has sold for almost £190&comma;000 at auction&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Art teacher Helene Plotkin bought the work by Scottish Colourist FCB Cadell in White Plans&comma; New York in 1966&comma; unaware of its true value&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The painting&comma; Interior&colon; The Lady in Black&comma; hung in her living room for 60 years &&num;8211&semi; but the artist&&num;8217&semi;s signature was illegible and was only recently identified&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It sold for £189&comma;200&comma; including buyer&&num;8217&semi;s premium&comma; in Edinburgh as part of Lyon &amp&semi; Turnbull&&num;8217&semi;s Scottish painting and sculpture auction&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The background to the painting only became clear when Helene&&num;8217&semi;s son Barry began his own research into it and took it for a valuation last year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The signature in the upper right of the picture was deciphered using AI and specialists at the auction house Lyon &amp&semi; Turnbull were able to confirm the artist as Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>FCB Cadell is one of the four artists known as the Scottish Colourists&comma; who was active early in the 20th Century&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He is renowned for his stylish portrayals of Edinburgh New Town interiors and his vibrant&comma; simplified still lifes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;static&period;files&period;bbci&period;co&period;uk&sol;bbcdotcom&sol;web&sol;20260609-143108-fe43574f32-web-3&period;9&period;0-5&sol;grey-placeholder&period;png" &sol;><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;ichef&period;bbci&period;co&period;uk&sol;news&sol;480&sol;cpsprodpb&sol;019f&sol;live&sol;20ec79c0-60e2-11f1-82ca-1380a42b6773&period;jpg&period;webp" &sol;>PA Media<&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Helene&comma; who is now 88 and lives in Florida&comma; said the painting stood out when she first spotted it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;My background in art history and studio practice drew me to this piece instantly&comma;&&num;8221&semi; she said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The painting had an undeniable&comma; regal presence&comma; but it was the colour theory at play that held my attention&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The way the pastels were integrated into the composition was both interesting and bold – it was clearly the work of a significant hand with a deep understanding of light and form&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Barry said the family were amazed to find out who the artist was having grown up with picture on the wall&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&colon; &&num;8220&semi;We were&comma; as you can imagine&comma; delighted and astounded when we found out the identity of the artist and of the model&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;For mum&comma; it was confirmation of her artistic eye and ability to recognise great talent&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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