A genuine Whistler was tossed into a donation box. A Yale student bought it for $4 in Williamsburg.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Mar 26, 2021, 10:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Hat tip, the Virginia Mercury

New coronavirus variants detected in Va., Northam supports faster timeline for marijuana legalization, rare Whistler found in Williamsburg thrift shop, and more headlines

Ned Oliver - March 26, 2021

An etching from a great master was found for $4 at a ReStore in Williamsburg.

Link to tweet

A genuine Whistler was tossed into a donation box. A Yale student bought it for $4 in Williamsburg.

By JOANNE KIMBERLIN
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT | MAR 25, 2021 AT 8:36 AM

WILLIAMSBURG — There’s no gentle way to say this: One of you tossed out a Whistler. ... Maybe you were cleaning out your attic? Clearing out an estate? Redecorating, perhaps, and lugging cast-offs to the thrift store?

Whatever was happening, you didn’t recognize what you had in your hands. That black and white sketch of a dark-haired woman — 5-by-7 inches or so in a nothing-special frame — was a for-real piece of work by one of the great masters.

And in a classic kick-yourself tale, a college student paid four bucks for it at the ReStore on Jamestown Road. ... Her name is Molly Martien and art is her thing — probably the only reason she recognized the genuine article while rummaging through a dusty bin of frames and kitschy prints last year.

{snip}

So why share any of this with us now?

Maybe it’s the recent headlines about a $35 yard sale bowl selling at Sotheby’s for more than $700,000. That yard sale was near New Haven, Connecticut, where Martien is studying at Yale University for her second master of arts degree.

{snip}

Joanne Kimberlin, 757-446-2338, [e-mail]

Joanne Kimberlin
Staff Writer
https://twitter.com/jkimreporter
[e-mail]

Joanne Kimberlin, a 2007 Pulitzer finalist, is an enterprise writer at The Virginian-Pilot. She writes about all kinds of subjects, from mercenaries to moon rocks to mental illness.

[Wingus Dingus]

1. Kind of a jerk to realize something is valuable and not give the Habitat for Humanity

store a heads-up. I don't care if she's a "poor grad student", she's low on ethics.