News item: Historic Texas painting found in Weston, WV attic

[cogar]

WOWEEEE, and it was gathering dust in an attic just 20 miles from where I live.

Lost for more than a century, a famous painting of a pivotal battle scene in the Texas revolution has been found in the attic of a Weston banker's home. Next month, it will be sold in a Dallas auction, where it is expected to fetch at least $100,000.

The painting, the work of Irish-born artist H.A. McArdle, depicts the April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, in which 800 Texas soldiers led by Sam Houston surprised and defeated a Mexican army nearly twice as large led by Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201010250753

[KC]

Wow!  Now...wonder who put it there and who had bought it!

[cogar]

McArdle's daughter put it there in 1930.

Click on the Gazette link above.

[wendy177]

love how some of the museums reacted    -   "People didn't seem to understand or believe what we had. Some of them said it was nice we had a McArdle painting, but that was about it."     

[waywardangler]

I wonder how much somebody's Kindle will fetch found in an attic 150 years from now?  Too many people stuck on their electronics to appreciate the beauty and talent of an historic painting.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Very cool. It was neat to hear about the infraraed examination and the experts skepticism at first.

[marcylove]

very cool.  I always think about how much history is just sitting in someone's attic.

[cogar]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A dusty oil painting of a Texas Revolution battle scene found in the attic of a Weston home sold for $354,000 during an auction in Dallas on Saturday.

"The sale went beyond our expectations," said Atlee Phillips, director of Texas art at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. "We were very excited with the outcome. It turned out to be one of the most expensive pieces of Texas art ever sold at auction."

A private citizen who seeks anonymity, for the moment at least, bought the 5-by-7 foot painting after about five minutes of spirited bidding, following an opening offer of $50,000. "It quickly came down to two strong, really serious bidders," Phillips said.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201011220764

[KC]

Thanks for sharing Cogar!  Love these kind of stories!

[sapphire]

Holy Hannah!! 5 x 7 !! How the heck to you hide or misplace something that size for that long??

[cogar]

HA, I've been wondering what else is stored in that attic .... and dreaming about  what I might have been able to buy iffen I had stopped and asked one of the many, many times that I have driven down the street past that house when coming n' going through Weston.