$40,000 piece of art found at Goodwill

EASTON, Md., June 26 (UPI) -- Employees of a Goodwill store in Maryland said they were shocked to find out a donated painting was by Impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortes and worth $40,600.

The painting, left at the Goodwill in Easton, Md., in March, was sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York for $40,600, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.

Store manager Terri Tonelli said she decided to do some research on the painting after a worker "recognized it as something worth a second look."

She said the hair on the back of her neck stood up when she looked up the name of the artist who signed the painting and learned he was well-known. Sotheby's had to check the painting and clean it before it could be auctioned.

"It was really a team thing. All I did was Google it," she added.

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