Michigan collector paid $30 for painting; it later sold for record $1.35 million

Everyone peeks at an estate sale. He did too. He thought he would get his hands on some records or perhaps some mid-century furniture. That’s when he saw a painting hanging in the dark corner of a hallway. For most people, it may not necessarily have been an extraordinary painting. All there was on the 8-by-11-inch canvas were some seashells. Most buyers’ eyes would slide past such works, but this man’s didn’t. He spotted a signature on it that read: Abercrombie. He knew it was valuable. The painting was up for sale for $30. He didn’t think twice. He bought it.A few months later, five phone bidders and several online bidders competed for the painting at Freeman’s in New York. The auction house had estimated it would sell for $150,000 to $250,000. And on October 1, the hammer fell at $1,060,000!