Son's question to Gemini turned mom's $100 thrift store painting from 1960 into a $254,000 windfall
The painting's true identity was revealed in 2025 when Plotkin's son, Barry, uploaded its photo to Gemini
For sixty years, a beautiful painting hung on the living room wall of Helene Plotkin, now an 88-year-old retired art teacher from Florida. While her sons Barry and David grew and played football around it, the painting always remained in the background, without attracting much attention for years. It was a painting of a regal-looking woman with bright red hair sitting on a chair in an opulent setting, which Plotkin had bought for about $100 from a US charity shop in New York. But recently, she sold the painting at a whopping price equating to four luxury Teslas, all thanks to her son, who, using artificial intelligence (AI), discovered that the painting was the work of Scottish painter Francis Campbell Boileau “FCB” Cadell. The discovery further confirmed Plotkin’s initial art instinct with which she bought that painting despite not knowing the real artist behind it, per the BBC's June 5 report.
A lucky purchase
It was 1966 when Plotkin’s artistic gaze fell upon the painting that the auction house recently named “Interior: The Lady in Black.” She bought it from a thrift shop in White Plains, New York. "My background in art history and studio practice drew me to this piece instantly," she recalled. At the time, Plotkin had bought the painting for less than $100 (£75). Being from an art background, she hadn't judged the painting by its low price. The artwork, in fact, reminded her of the French Fauvist works reflected in the bold colors and brushwork. "The painting had an undeniable, regal presence, but it was the color theory at play that held my attention," she explained. "The way the pastels were integrated into the composition was both interesting and bold — it was clearly the work of a significant hand with a deep understanding of light and form," Plotkin added.
But in late 2025, her son Barry used Gemini (Google's AI assistant) and realized the real artist behind the painting. Well, he basically uploaded the painting, which identified Cadell’s signature in the upper right corner. Barry also checked the labels on the back, which revealed that the painting had been sold at Christie’s London in 1966. "For mum, it was confirmation of her artistic eye and ability to recognize great talent,” he later reflected. Following the discovery, the family sold the painting for £189,200 ($254,000) at Lyon & Turnbull's Scottish painting and sculpture auction.
Cadell's golden era
According to Artnet, “Interior: The Lady in Black” has been dated to the mid-1920s when Cadell left the army and bought a six-floor house near his childhood home. Eventually, he sold off the floors one by one and ended up in the former maid’s quarters. “This is the peak of his career; he’s painting in this extraordinarily modern manner with aspects of art deco style, before that term has even been coined,” Alice Strang, a specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, explained.
AI in the art world
Although AI helped identify the lost Scottish masterpiece, the identification of the woman in the painting differed from the real woman depicted there, suggesting the limitations of technology. “The story illustrates how A.I. can get you started, but there’s no comparison for real expertise. The painting could have been a copy; it could have been by his cousin, Florence St. John Cadell, and you can only tell so much through photographs,” reflected Strang. However, the discovery, in the case of Plotkin, also highlighted AI's growing role in art restoration.
According to a report published in the journal Nature, AI-based art restoration could be up to 70 times faster than repairing the art by hand. In fact, AI can also be used to discriminate original artwork from forged versions, per CNN. “[AI] can spot patterns that you and I can’t perceive, helping to determine authenticity,” Hanoch Sheps, a lawyer with the New York-based law firm Mazzola Lindstrom, which specializes in fine art, explained. Meanwhile, looking ahead, Plotkin has only one wish. She’ll distribute the windfall among her sons, but on one condition. She urges the buyer to occasionally exhibit the painting publicly so her grandchildren can see the picture that has hung in her living room for sixty years, per Luxury Launches.
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