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Treasure Hunt
ASK THE

artsperts www.harmonmeek.com

by Kristine Meek and Juliana Meek 599 NINTH STREET, NORTH, SUITE 309 | NAPLES, FL 34102 | 239.261.2637

Dear Artsperts,

Do you think it is possible to come across a “find” for works of thrilled to know more about Richard Segalman and is so happy to
art at a thrift store? With everything so easily searchable even from have the works in her collection.
our smartphones, do valuable works of art still end up in thrift We can only guess how these works ended up in thrift stores.
stores? Most likely the owners passed away and those inheriting the works
Signed, never thought the small works would be of value. The Slonem was
Thrifty won by a raffle ticket at a charity event, so there was no receipt
and not a lot of money spent for it in the first place. The Segalman
works were in simple 1970s frames and did not look like they
Dear Thrifty, would be of value because of the frames.
Yes, it can and does happen that valuable works of art are found We appreciate the eagle-eyed thrifters who are on the lookout
at thrift stores. Two such scenarios happened recently. for works of art that may be valuable. The Slonem watercolor and
A year ago, we received a call from a woman who had in her three small Segalman works found new homes where they are once
possession a small watercolor by Hunt Slonem with our gallery again appreciated. The only caveat is that there is a buyer beware
label on the back. She called to find out more information. She since there can be fake works of art floating around…a topic for
was not even sure it was real because when she searched on Hunt our next artsperts!
Slonem, there were no other watercolors listed. However, with Sincerely,
our label on the back, she called us and of course we did know the The Artsperts
history of the work. Hunt Slonem painted just a few watercolors in
his career, preferring to work primarily with oil paint. In the early
2000’s our father was asked to help support a charity by donating
works to a raffle. He approached a few of our
artists and Slonem was one of the artists willing to
participate. Slonem created several watercolors for
the charity raffle. After explaining the history of the
work and telling the caller that it was in fact a real
Slonem, we asked her how she came to own it. She
replied that we wouldn’t like the answer, but it was
in the last chance bin of the Goodwill in
Ft. Myers. She was absolutely thrilled to know it
was a real Slonem. She had no intentions of selling
as she was so excited to know that she in fact now
owned a painting by Hunt Slonem. We were very
happy for her!
A second scenario happened just last month. We
received a call from someone who found three small
works by Richard Segalman at St Matthew’s House
thrift store. These works did not have our label on
the back, but when the caller searched on Richard
Segalman, our Gallery website popped up. As
she described them, we could tell these were early
Segalman works from the 70s prior to when we
started representing him in the 80s. The caller was

22 Life in Naples | March 2024