The painting that hung in her home for 25 years turned out to be worth a fortune

The news outlet Lille Actu reports the story: a work of immense value was discovered in the home of a Lille resident.

Titled “Maternity” (1973), this painting on silk is signed by Lê Thi Luu, Vietnam’s first professional female painter. A modern artist, she trained at the Hanoi School before settling in France in 1937. The work depicts a woman in traditional Vietnamese attire—the saffron-yellow áo dài —holding her child close.

“It was during an inventory in the Lille region that I discovered this painting on silk, and I recognized the quality of its execution at first glance,” says the auctioneer at Artefact Enchères.

The Lille-based auction house adds: “The work belongs to the artist’s most accomplished period, featuring faces that are more sensual and expressive than in his compositions from the 1940s.”

The owner, who had held the painting for 25 years, “had no idea what she possessed.” Estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000 euros, this painting on silk will go up for auction on September 12.