Op-shop buy turns to gold

A bargain hunter has struck artistic gold after buying a $5 oil painting in a "nasty old frame" from a Whangarei charity shop.
Swedish artist Edward Fristrom's A Breezy Day at Seatoun, Wellington was purchased for $5 at the Whangarei Allsortz Hospice Shop and is now set to fetch more than $7000 in an online auction.
The shop raises money for North Haven Hospice, which is now reviewing its art assessment policy after the valuable painting slipped under its radar.
The Northern Advocate understands a Whangarei woman purchased the painting and will donate some of the takings to the North Haven Hospice in Tikipunga.
The painting was assessed by  Whangarei Art Museum director Scott Pothan, who was astounded by the discovery.
"When I saw it coming through the door my eyes lit up. It was in a nasty old frame but it's a jewel.
"She knew what she had found but when I told her what it was worth she was a bit shocked and frightened."
Mr Pothan says he is a "regular haunter" of the hospice store and has also discovered some gems.
"I paid $20 for a Natalie Findlay piece that's probably worth $500," he said.
North Haven Hospice general manager Helen Blaxland said the hospice team had to raise $1.3million per year.
The amount that could have been made from the Fristrom painting would have been helpful, she said.
"The lady who usually prices our art and antiques has been on leave and, unless staff are given an indication of an item's worth, it's left up to them to determine a price," she said.
"When you're relying on the goodwill of volunteers, inadvertently things may be sold for an absolute bargain.
"Obviously, this one slipped through."
Mrs Blaxland said if the hospice had been aware of the painting's potential worth, it would have been included in a hospice art auction.
Instead, the painting is up for auction on the International Art Centre's website and director Richard Thomson says it is one of the best Fristroms they have received in more than two years.
"We've told interested buyers the story behind it," he said.
Mr Pothan said Fristrom's works were considered important as he was one of a few impressionist artists in New Zealand at the turn of the 20th century.
Mr Pothan said he would be happy to help North Haven Hospice value artworks.