Painting Left at Goodwill Sells for $40,000 at Sotheby's

EASTON, Md.—Employees at a Goodwill store in Maryland were surprised to learn a donated painting was in fact a valuable Impressionist work by Edouard-Leon Cortes, reports UPI. It was recently sold at Sotheby's in New York for $40,600.

Manager Terri Tonelli decided to research the painting after a staff member of the store in Easton, Maryland, recognized it might deserve a second look. Tonelli said the hair on the back of her neck stood up when she learned that the artist who had signed it was well known. "It was really a team thing. All I did was Google it," she said.