Household painting may fetch $800,000

Christie's auction house announced on Tuesday, the famous Victorian era painting that remained in a New England beach house for 50 years, could sell for as much as $800,000. The painting, "The Derby Day" will be sold at auction next month.

The 15 x 35" painting is a prototype version of one of the period's most famous works of art. Painted by artist William Powell Firth, it shows crowds at an 1850s horse race with a wealthy family surrounded by gamblers, acrobats, and prostitutes.

The actual finished painting hangs in a London gallery.

The painting had been hanging in a New England beach house for decades until one of the owner's friends suggested that it could be worth something. Christie's has provided only a few details on the painting's recent past, because the owner has asked to remain anonymous.

The auction house has explained that the vendor is in his 60s, and believes his parents purchased the painting before World War II, at a time when Victorian art tended to be unpopular and devalued.
Since the 1970s, harsh opinions of Victorian art has changed in the critical mindset, and Victorian paintings are becoming coveted collector items once again.

"The Derby Day" was reportedly so popular at its initial exhibition in 1858, that a railing had to be erected at the Royal Academy in London, to hold back the crowds.

The painting will be sold on December 15 in London, and the initial estimates for its value range between $447,000-$800,000.

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