AI Identifies Thrift-Store Painting as Lost Work by Scottish Colorist FCB Cadell
A thrift-store painting bought for under $100 in the 1960s has been identified as a work by Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, a leading Scottish Colorist. Helene Plotkin, then a young art graduate, spotted the portrait of a red-haired woman in a White Plains, New York thrift shop. Decades later, her son Barry uploaded a photo to Google's Gemini AI, which attributed it to Cadell. Specialists Nick Curnow and Alice Strang of Lyon & Turnbull confirmed the attribution, titling the work Interior: The Lady in Black (1920s). The sitter is May Easter, a frequent model. The painting was sold at Lyon & Turnbull for £189,200 (over $250,000) in 2025. It had previously been sold by Christie's in 1966 for £21. How it ended up in a New York thrift shop remains a mystery.
Key facts
- Helene Plotkin bought the painting for under $100 in a White Plains, New York thrift shop in the 1960s.
- Her son Barry used Google's Gemini AI to identify the artist as FCB Cadell.
- The painting is titled Interior: The Lady in Black and dates to the 1920s.
- The sitter is May Easter, Cadell's primary muse.
- Lyon & Turnbull specialists Nick Curnow and Alice Strang confirmed the attribution.
- The painting sold at auction for £189,200 (over $250,000) in 2025.
- Christie's sold the painting in 1966 for £21.
- FCB Cadell was one of the four Scottish Colorists, known for vibrant Fauvist-inspired colors.
Entities
Artists
- Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
- May Easter
Institutions
- Lyon & Turnbull
- Christie's
- National Galleries of Scotland
- Goodwill Industries
- PA Media
- New York Times
- Artnet
- Smithsonian
Locations
- White Plains
- New York
- United States
- Edinburgh
- Scotland