A shopper bought a painting for just a few dollars at a thrift shop in 2024. Experts later linked it to Frans David Oerder, with its value reaching $120,000

A painting bought for less than £30 at a South African second-hand shop turned out to be worth thousands. The buyer picked it up in the 1980s simply because they liked its simple look, colors and the way it captured a person. Decades later, the painting appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and received a very different kind of attention. Experts valued it at between £12,000 and £18,000, or roughly $16,000 to $24,000, as per a report by The Art Net and The Antique Trader.

How did the $40 painting become so valuable?

According to Artnet, the guest had paid less than £30, or about $40, for the painting. At the time, there was no indication that the inexpensive purchase would become such a valuable find.


The painting shows the face of a young man against a golden-brown background. Its simple design was part of what attracted the buyer in the first place.

The painting was later identified as an original work by Frans David Oerder, a Dutch artist who moved from the Netherlands to South Africa in 1890.

Oerder had received classical art training. He attended the Rotterdam Academy, traveled through Italy and studied in Brussels. His training helped establish him as one of the leading artists in Colonial South Africa.

His career also became closely connected to the history of the region.

When the Second Boer War began in 1899 between Boer and British colonial forces, President Paul Kruger appointed Oerder as the official war artist.

After the war, Oerder continued receiving attention and commissions. He painted landscapes as well as official portraits.

Why was this Oerder painting unusual?

Art expert Frances Christie pointed out that the painting brought to the show did not look like the type of work Oerder was usually known for.

She believes “This painting wouldn’t have been a commission; it was clearly a boy he came across and asked to sit for him” and praised the way “Oerder has managed to capture very subtle facial features and the thoughtfulness of this person beautifully.”

That personal quality appears to be part of what makes the painting stand out.

Christie believes the work was created around the turn of the century. Yet she said it still “feels exceptionally fresh, it could have been painted yesterday.”

The painting also looks different from the formal portraits associated with older Dutch art. Its simple composition and bright colors have a more modern feel, pointing toward the direction art would take during the 20th century.

There is also a deeper historical setting behind the young man's portrait.

Oerder lived and worked at a time when South Africa was controlled by the British Empire and Boer descendants of Dutch settlers. The unidentified Black young man in the painting would have belonged to a population with very little political power.

There is no way to know exactly what Oerder intended when he painted him. But viewed today, the portrait can seem connected to the major changes South Africa would experience during the 20th century, including the end of colonial rule and greater empowerment of its Black population. That history adds another layer to a painting that began as a simple thrift store purchase. For the buyer, what started as a £30 bargain eventually became an artwork valued at up to £18,000. It is the kind of unexpected discovery that has long made programs such as the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow so compelling.

FAQs

What was the price of the painting?
Experts valued it at £12,000 to £18,000.

Who painted the artwork?
Frans David Oerder is identified as the person who painted it.