Woman finds lost Georgia O'Keeffe painting in Manhattan closet

A woman named Betsy discovered a long-lost painting by artist Georgia O'Keeffe hidden in her aunt's Manhattan apartment.

The artwork, titled Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, had remained concealed for 40 years beneath a collection of fur coats. The painting was created in 1930 and is believed to be the first in a series of three works depicting Lobo Peak in northern New Mexico.

The second painting in the series is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the third remains in a private collection. The discovered piece features warm earth tones and soft hills, representing an early stage of O'Keeffe's career and her inspiration from the New Mexico landscape. The aunt of Betsy, a former Foreign Service worker, purchased the painting in 1963 as a graduation gift for 3,800 dollars.

During a bridge game in the mid-1980s, the aunt noticed a guest looking too closely at the art and decided to hide it in an entry closet. She placed the 10-by-24-inch painting in its original box behind rows of coats to avoid drawing attention to its value. Betsy learned of the painting's existence in 2022 while preparing the apartment for home health aides.

The art world previously only knew of the work through a 1931 photograph taken by O'Keeffe's husband, Alfred Stieglitz. Christie's New York identified the piece using that photograph and O'Keeffe's signature. The painting will be sold at auction on November 17 with an estimated value between 3 million and 5 million dollars.