h. a. mcardle

Painting Found In An Attic Could Sell For Over $100,000

I love a good "lost in the attic" story and there is one going up for sale through Heritage Auctions on November 20. The 1901 painting by H.A. McArdle depicting the Texas Revolution's decisive 1836 Battle of San Jacinto had been missing for nearly a century. It was found covered with dust in the attic of a West Virginia home and could sell for $100,000 or more.

"It depicts the 1836 battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. It was painted in 1901 by H.A. McArdle (1836 - 1908), five years after he painted a large mural of that scene that still hangs in the State Senate chamber of the Texas Capitol building," said Atlee Phillips of Heritage. According to a family story, McArdle was never paid by the person who commissioned the smaller painting and so the painting was brought to West Virginia when the family moved there in 1901. His descendants recently discovered it in the attic of the family's home in Weston, West Virginia. The five-by-seven feet oil painting was dusty but generally in good condition. McArdle's descendants had no idea they had something of so much value in their home. "I vaguely remember seeing the painting but never in the light of day in all the years I lived in that house," said Lynn Bland Buell, McArdle's great-granddaughter.

"This is a stunning find of a work by one of the most important painters of scenes and individuals from Texas history," said Sam Ratliffe, Head of the Bywaters Special Collections at Southern Methodist University's Hamon Arts Library.

Tags: h. a. mcardle, heritage auction

h. a. mcardle

Painting Found In An Attic Could Sell For Over $100,000

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