Painting bought for $50 at barn sale expected to fetch up to $200,000

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A painting bought for $50 at a New York barn sale is headed to auction and expected to fetch up to $200,000 after being identified as a 1912 piece by Canadian artist Emily Carr.

New York-based art dealer Allen Treibitz said he was at a barn sale in the Hamptons when the painting, which depicts a carved grizzly bear at the top of a totem pole, caught his eye.

"You could just tell that painting had something special about it besides the fact that it was so legibly signed, which is not often the case with most art that you see," Treibitz told Global News. "So that helped a little, but it definitely had a look and it was definitely very interesting."

He bought the painting for $50, and his research soon determined it was a piece called Masset Q.C.I. and was painted in 1912 by Carr.

The painting is now one of four works by Carr due to be auctioned by the Heffel Gallery next month in Toronto. It is expected to sell for between $100,000 and $200,000.

"I've found some interesting things in my lifetime," Treibitz said. "This is the most significant find I've ever had."