London:
A painting bought for only 100 pounds from a junk shop in Britain has been estimated at 40 million pounds.
The painting's 100-pound price tag was only for its designer frame. The buyer on closer inspection noticed a signature in a corner. And under the scrawled name was the date 1854.
Experts say the piece - showing a house with an orange roof surrounded by trees next to a river - is reminiscent of the works of French artist Cezanne that could be worth 40 million pounds, said the Daily Mail.
The buyer, a man in his 30s from Northamptonshire who did not wish to be named, said he had removed the canvas from the frame and removed "decades of dirt" before examining it.
"I bought a book on post-impressionism and checked the signature and it looks exactly the same as on some of his (Cezanne's) other paintings," he said.
"To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I just bought it for the frame."
Owner Tim Conrad of auction house Wilfords of Wellingborough said: "We are talking about 40 million pounds if not more, it would be a major event in the art world."
Cezanne's 1893 painting "Still Life With Curtain, Pitcher And Bowl Of Fruit" is one of the 10 most expensive paintings ever sold, going for 38 million pounds in 1999.
The painting's 100-pound price tag was only for its designer frame. The buyer on closer inspection noticed a signature in a corner. And under the scrawled name was the date 1854.
Experts say the piece - showing a house with an orange roof surrounded by trees next to a river - is reminiscent of the works of French artist Cezanne that could be worth 40 million pounds, said the Daily Mail.
The buyer, a man in his 30s from Northamptonshire who did not wish to be named, said he had removed the canvas from the frame and removed "decades of dirt" before examining it.
"I bought a book on post-impressionism and checked the signature and it looks exactly the same as on some of his (Cezanne's) other paintings," he said.
"To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I just bought it for the frame."
Owner Tim Conrad of auction house Wilfords of Wellingborough said: "We are talking about 40 million pounds if not more, it would be a major event in the art world."
Cezanne's 1893 painting "Still Life With Curtain, Pitcher And Bowl Of Fruit" is one of the 10 most expensive paintings ever sold, going for 38 million pounds in 1999.
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