Painting Found At Thrift Store Worth Thousands

Painting Found At Thrift Store Worth Thousands

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- A Blue Springs, Mo., man paid less than $14 for a painting at a local thrift store, but it could be worth several thousand dollars, KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported.

Bob Hampton was shopping at a thrift store at South Noland Road and East 44th Street in Independence when he found a watercolor print he liked.

"I saw it and I said, 'That's good, that guy did a good job,'" Hampton said.

Hampton, who is an artist himself, saw something special.

"The quality of the colors was quite good for a print. I said, 'This is an excellent printing job, if that's what it was,'" Hampton said.

He liked the feel of the paper and he noticed shadows in the print, then he saw what looked like an accidental splash of water paint.

Hampton was so curious, he had the painting appraised at Christie's.

The famous New York auction house estimated the original painting by James Milton Sessions was worth between $2,000 and $3,000.

"I said, 'No, it couldn't be,'" Hampton said.

Sessions was born in Rome in 1882. Before he died in 1962, he was the only artist awarded his own show at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The painting Hampton found dates back to 1937.

Hampton is considering whether to keep the painting or sell it.

The manager of the thrift store said it was not that unusual for people to pick up a bargain and find out later an item's true worth.