A Frans Post painting hidden beneath decades of grime has leapt from dusty obscurity to the glittering spotlight of Sotheby’s New York, rewriting the artist’s market history in one electrifying sale. The rediscovered canvas—View of Olinda, Brazil, with the Ruins of the Jesuit Church—hammered at €6 million and closed at €7.37 million with fees, smashing Post’s previous record.
Its unlikely journey began in a Connecticut barn attic in 1998, when Sotheby’s specialist George Wachter spotted potential beneath layers of soot. After a meticulous restoration by Dutch-school conservator Nancy Krieg, the tropical vista emerged in radiant detail—anteaters, lichens, and colonial ruins alive once more. That alchemy of expert eye and patient craft set the stage for auction fireworks.
