Read the latest positive news, breakthroughs, and inspiring stories about art discovery, curated daily by BrightWire.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2Fc1%2F69%2Fc1699fab-945f-4ab0-8cce-31f9d23e0929%2Fgettyimages-2289914994.jpg)
When conservators removed century-old murals from a French abbey's walls for the first time, they discovered colorful sketches by the same artist hidden underneath. The unexpected find reveals how master painter Odilon Redon prepared his masterwork.
A builder's sharp eye turned a $400 gamble at a British salvage yard into the discovery of a 300-year-old marble masterpiece by the sculptor who created Rome's Trevi Fountain. The precious model had been languishing among garden gnomes and weathered ornaments for decades.
A homeowner who used chipped garden statues as lawn decorations discovered they were actually 300-year-old Italian marble masterpieces worth thousands. The forgotten Florentine busts sparked a bidding war and sold for $3,000 each.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F40%2Fb1%2F40b16f5a-9862-4527-8ec7-ed11be2f1479%2Flead_art_painting.jpg)
An 88-year-old woman's instinct paid off spectacularly when her son used AI to identify her 1960s thrift store painting as a masterpiece by famous Scottish Colorist FCB Cadell. The artwork she bought for under $100 just sold at auction for more than $250,000.
A Chicago real estate agent bought a box of old negatives for $380 in 2007, unknowingly uncovering over 100,000 photos by Vivian Maier, now considered one of the greatest street photographers in history. The nanny who secretly documented life for decades never showed her work to anyone.
A Dutch woman discovered 35 authentic Rembrandt etchings while sorting through family heirlooms during COVID lockdown. The artworks, purchased by her grandfather a century ago for pocket change, are now museum-worthy treasures.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F31%2F96%2F3196dac1-5e38-4e58-a298-a854ac1dd60e%2Frembrandt-painting.jpg)
A family joked about their painting being a real Rembrandt because of its bold signature. After 60 years of experts saying it wasn't authentic, the Rijksmuseum just proved them right.
A Dutch woman who kept a folder of inherited "nice pictures" in a drawer for years discovered she owns 35 authentic Rembrandt etchings. What started as a pandemic hobby turned into one of art history's most delightful surprises.
A London family just discovered that two watercolors hanging on their walls for decades are original Jungle Book illustrations lost for over a century. Only six of the original 16 paintings are known to survive.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2Ffc%2F56%2Ffc56e558-3c22-4d48-b776-43a7b1960f3e%2Fgettyimages-2256966828.jpg)
A painting of Scotland's greatest poet vanished in 1840 and stumped searchers for nearly two centuries. Now it's finally home, and the story of how it was found is almost as poetic as Burns himself.