A painting purchased at an auction in Canterbury, England ten years ago for $50 was recently revealed as an authentic work by the English landscape painter John Constable. Robin Darvell a retired consultant ophthalmic surgeon, purchased the postcard-sized painting after spotting a faint signature that read “J Constable” on the back of its frame. Darvell kept the painting stowed away in a drawer for years and never hung the work.
It wasn’t until Darvell’s son, Rob, presented the work to the experts on the English television program Treasure Detectives that the true value of the work was revealed. The show’s host, Curtis Dowling, appraised the painting as an original 19th century landscape by the artist and put its worth at nearly $400,000. Dowling remarked, “To add this to John Constable’s canon of work is wonderful. A large section of the art world will be salivating to get their hands on it.”
