A painting by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe, hidden in a New York apartment closet for nearly 40 years, is set to go under the hammer. Titled Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I (1930), it was discovered beneath a row of fur coats by the niece of its owner. The artwork is expected to fetch $2 million to $3 million at Christie’s auction in New York on November 17.
In 2022, the aunt had casually mentioned to her home health aides that there was a Georgia O’Keeffe painting in her hallway closet. The artwork had been given to her as a graduation present in the 1960s by her mother, who bought it from the Downtown Gallery in New York for $3,800 in 1963. It remained out of sight for decades. (Also Read: Bhutan builds and consecrates 108 Buddhist stupas in just 9 hours, enters Guinness World Records ) The 1930 painting depicts Lobo Peak in New Mexico, a landscape that O’Keeffe returned to in several of her works. The second version, also painted in 1930, is part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The third, completed in 1931, was sold by Christie’s in 2018 as part of the Peggy and David Rockefeller collection. It fetched $8.41 million, well above its estimated price of $3 million to $5 million. The newly discovered painting was previously known mainly through a photograph taken in 1931. Christie’s will offer the artwork as part of its 20th Century Evening Sale in New York on November 17. It will also be displayed at the auction house from November 7 until the sale. Her current auction record stands at $44.4 million, set in 2014 when Sotheby’s sold her 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1.
Because o’Keeffe’s work has been extensively documented, and the painting had remained out of public view for several decades, its rediscovery is particularly notable. Her niece, identified only as Betsy, came across it while helping her aunt prepare for hospice care. The discovery was not entirely unexpected. The painting was later packed away in the 1980s after the owner became concerned that a visitor was taking too much interest in it. O’Keeffe remains one of the most sought-after women artists at auction.
The painting belonged to an elderly woman living in New York’s East Village, according to Artnet News . It is believed to be the first of three paintings she made featuring the mountain, according to Christie’s. Part of the proceeds from the newly rediscovered work will go towards an educational institution and family expenses, according to The New York Post .
