Dump score, who throws this out!?

[Gridwalker306]

So I had to take a load of construction debris to the local dump today, and just as the bulldozer was heading my way, I noticed these paintings in a pile behind some old crappy office furniture. I threw them in my truck and brought them home. Some are unknown/amateur paintings, but a few are pretty good, and one might be great. The two paintings with the barns have comparable works by the same artist going for $100-$250. The small one in the middle has comparable works by the same artist going for $250-$650. The painting on the bottom right turns out to be a fairly famous local artist, born 1913. There was actually a government funded exhibition of her works at a large local gallery recently, and I believe it might be valuable. I emailed a pic and requested information from the gallery curator where this exhibit originated, hopefully they have good news. My wife is a professional artist, and I have always been interested in art, and especially local history...I couldn't let these get destroyed. I will update when I get more info on these paintings. Today I received information on one of the paintings, from the curator of an art gallery/museum in a city a few hours from me. It turns out I made a good save! The artist was Alice Macredie, she was famous for her paintings of her father's life working on railroads and bridges as a Canadian Pacific Railway engineer. She also did many landscapes and flower paintings. She lived 1913-2006, and was a positive artistic figure in our area. Her paintings are in the collections of Gulf Canada Resources, Westminster Theatre Art Centre in London England, The Canadian Railway Museum, as well as other museums and private collections. The comparable paintings by Macredie are all worth at least $1000, the curator congratulated me on the find! She also mentioned that they would be very interested in adding it to their permanent collection, if I was inclined to donate it. That's exactly what I plan to do, and I say "shame on you!" to whoever threw this out.

 

[mariposagold]

Wow, the stuff people toss. Amazing.

Nice save

HH
MariposaGold

 

[beez0404]

How much for the 3 barn paintings?

 

[Gold Maven]

Good save, love the old barn pics. When I see an old barn like that, I try to imagine when it was new.

Some long gone farmer's pride n joy, slowly succumbing to mother nature.

 

[thommo59]

Crazy

 

[unfound]

Great Save !!! it'd be a shame to see those get bulldozed.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice Save.

 

[jewelerguy]

wow that's insane

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Great Saves , hope you get the provenance to sell them for Top $ . Art friends and myself discovered an Edmund Tarbell signed painting of his wife and daughter in a candlelight setting , Tarbell was of famous Boston Ten , Impressionist Painter who has works in the White House and Boston Museum of Fine Arts .

Good Luck ,

Mike

 

[Argentium]

It really is amazing what ends up in the trash ! Great saves .

 

[Gridwalker306]

Thanks everybody, it's fun researching these things...still waiting to hear back about the possible expensive one.

 

[Gridwalker306]

How much for the 3 barn paintings?

Sent you a private message.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice save congrats!

 

[vpnavy]

NEAT! Thanks for sharing...

 

[Gridwalker306]

So the curator got back to me today. She said the painting in question was indeed worth saving. She knew the artist, and is going to mail me a bunch of information.

She said the painting isn't worth a fortune, but she is going to sent me a list of insurance values for the artist's other paintings that were in the latest exhibit. I'm thinking that if it's insurable, it should be worth something! I can't wait to find out.

I took another load to the dump today...the bulldozer must have missed the pile, because I snagged another 3 paintings. I'm still researching them, hopefully decent stuff.

 

[Central Ca Ron]

Are two of those paintings by Robert Nidy?

 

[Gridwalker306]

Are two of those paintings by Robert Nidy?

Nope...which ones did you think were his?

 

[Central Ca Ron]

Nope...which ones did you think were his?

The barn with the silo and the barn with snow, look very much in his style and colors.

 

[Gridwalker306]

The barn with the silo and the barn with snow, look very much in his style and colors.

The signature on both of those are "J. Medina". Similar works by this artist are appraised at $100-$200, so that's cool with me.

 

[g-olden years]

Really like these nature paintings! So glad you saw them.

Seems odd that whoever tossed them didn't instead give them away to someone else who may have enjoyed them, or at least to the local thrift shop! Andi