A woman from Pennsylvania, Heidi Markow, recently got the shock of her life when she found out that a drawing she bought for just $12 (around Rs 1,026) could be worth over $1 million. The artwork, a charcoal drawing, is believed to be from the famous French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived in the 18th century.

Markow, who buys and sells old items, found the drawing at an auction in Montgomery County earlier this year. She liked it right away. She said, "Other paintings were selling for $1,000, $2,000, or even $3,000 during the auction. I didn’t know what this painting was, but I really wanted it. It looked very special." Her husband was able to buy the 17.5-inch-by-16.5-inch artwork for her without any trouble.

Clues that led to a big find

After bringing the drawing home, Markow looked at it closely and saw a rare stamp on the back. She thought that the artwork might have been brought to the US from another country and later sold to a famous collector. She also noticed a faint signature on the drawing, which experts believe belongs to the famous artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Markow guessed that the drawing could be a picture of Renoir’s wife, Aline Charigot. She also saw that the way the painting was made matched a time when Renoir focused a lot on light and shading. To learn more, she watched several documentaries about Renoir and continued researching.

Since Markow could not confirm if the drawing was real by herself, she reached out to Sotheby’s. They connected her with an experienced art expert. After checking the artwork, the expert simply told her, “Congratulations.”

Later, she sent the drawing to the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, a well-known organisation in New York that studies and protects old paintings. Experts will officially check if the drawing is real on April 10. Markow shared, “They believe it’s authentic. It’s rigorous; they’re pretty tough with their examination. I’m cautiously optimistic.”

If the artwork is confirmed to be real, it could be sold for more than $1 million (around Rs 8.5 crore).

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