Mainer Found a $150k Picasso That Had Lived in Their Closet For 50 Years

Check Those Heirlooms

A lot of folks likely have odds and ends inherited from loved ones over the years. Items where they don't exactly match your own décor or tastes, but they belonged to family so you'd feel guilty if you got rid of them. So they live in the closet until they go to another family member.

Now imagine one of those ugly broaches or odd paintings was worth the price of a small house. Well, in today's market a small house in northern Maine, a cool $150,000.

That was the reality for one Mainer.

How'd It Get in The Closet?

According to the Portland Press Herald, the unnamed seller comes from a family of a true cast of adventurous characters.

They explain that they had family study in Europe back in the 1920s, a great-aunt and grandmother. The pair would always pick up unique items from their travels.

One of those items was a painting. A painting that had long lived in the closet of a home that was passed down within the family for generations. But not just any painting. This was a Picasso.

Auction

The piece was titled, "Le Tricorne" and was the early version of the piece by the same name that is on exhibit at the New York Historical Society. The piece was auctioned through John McInnis Auctioneers of Amesbury, Massachusetts over the weekend and sold for $150,000 to an unidentified buyer according to the Portland Press Herald. According to the listing on liveauctioneers.com, the piece was only estimated at $40,000-$80,000.

So maybe during the long holiday weekend dig around in your old closets. You never know what your great-ant-Mildred may have picked up a hundred years ago.

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