I Bought This Painting at Auction for Just €150 🇫🇷🇧🇪🇳🇱

Buying this painting at auction was probably a complete shot in the foot. Honestly, I wasn't sure what was still hiding beneath that darkened varnish. No signature, no provenance, no real information about who painted it. And yet, something about it made me take the risk. So, let's find out if this was a terrible mistake or an extraordinary discovery. Some of you who follow my other channel, Art Odyssey, may already know that I spend a great deal of time visiting antique auctions and preview exhibitions searching for unusual objects and forgotten works of art. But this time was different. I never actually saw this painting in person before buying it. I found it late one evening while browsing through an online auction catalog hidden among thousands of other lots. And at first, it would have been very easy to ignore. The varnish was heavily darkened and the portrait felt almost buried beneath years of neglect. But there was something in the brushwork, a certain confidence in the way the face had been painted, that immediately made me stop scrolling. One of the things I love most about restorations is the search itself. Sometimes I spend weeks looking through auctions, flea markets and antique fairs without finding anything truly special. And then, suddenly, there is that moment. That quiet feeling that perhaps something forgotten still deserves a second chance. A few days later, the painting arrived. Altogether, it cost me around €150, including the €30 that I had to pay the auction fees, which may not sound like very much. But when you buy a painting completely unseen, without a signature or any real provenance, it always feels like a gamble. Because this painting has no signature. None in the front, none in the back, nothing hidden beneath the frame. Which raises the question, who painted this portrait? And what exactly have I bought? The photos lie, it's only when a painting finally arrives on your table that you begin to understand its true condition. And what I saw immediately was a very darkened varnish. Yellowed, almost brown in certain areas. Decades of accumulated dirt and oxidation covering the surface. There were also a few small paint losses here and there. Nothing dramatic, but enough to tell me that this portrait had lived a long life. It had passed through different homes, hung on different halls, perhaps exposed for decades to fireplaces, smoke, dust and time itself. But there were also encouraging signs. No tears in the canvas, no major distortions, no obvious overpainting visible to the naked eye. And most importantly, the painting still felt honest, consistent, as though it had remained largely untouched for a very long time. And that gave me hope. This part that always gives me a slightly sense of nervousness, the ultraviolet light examination. This is where the painting begins to reveal its history. If there are old restorations or overpaintings hidden beneath the surface, they usually become immediately visible under UV light. Sometimes glowing almost like a Christmas tree. So I turned off the studio lights and began examining the surface carefully. And surprisingly, the painting appeared remarkably untouched. No obvious overpainting, no heavy past restorations. The fluorescence across the surface was largely consistent, which suggested that for a very long time, this portrait may have remained exactly as it was originally painted. But there was something else the UV light confirmed. There was still no signature, no hidden initials, no erased names beneath the varnish, nothing on the front, nothing on the reverse, nothing hidden beneath the frame. This painting truly has no name, which raises an even bigger mystery. If nobody restored it and nobody signed it, then who painted this portrait? And who was this young girl? Now comes the stage that always gives me a slight sense of uncertainty. The cleaning tests. This is the moment that defines everything. So I'm just here to perform a cleaning on this area, just to have a window to take the varnish. So I have here a less strong solution. Apparently, it doesn't work. We don't have a result with this one. So I'm going to try a more concentrated solution. And this one is the one. We can see that the varnish is very oxidized and completely changed the colors. This one is perfect. I'm performing here to remove the varnish. Yes, it's coming off very scolorated. And we can see here a very big difference. This area here, green, still remains with the old varnish. And you can see with the varnish removed already here. At this point, the process becomes much clearer. First, I remove the accumulated surface dirt using a cross cleaning solution. Then, section by section, I carefully remove the aged varnish layer beneath it. And with every area that was cleaned, it felt almost like turning on a light. We are now in the middle of the varnish removal. And what a wonderful surprise to have these beautiful colors from the original artist coming alive again. So I think this is getting very interesting. At this stage, one question kept returning to my mind. Who painted this portrait? There was no signature, no label, no provenance, nothing that could immediately identify the artist. So the only thing left to study was the painting itself. And paintings often reveal far more than people realize. The first clues came from the brushwork. There was a confidence in the handling of the portrait, especially in the softer transitions of the face and the delicate treatment of light around the eyes. The materials also told part of the story. The canvas, the ground preparation, and the behavior of the pigments all suggested a late 19th century origin, possibly moving into early 20th century. Portraits like these were often private commissions made for family homes rather than public exhibitions, and many quietly disappeared into anonymity over time. But after studying the painting closely, one thing became very clear. Even if I may never discover the artist's name, this was the work of someone with genuine training, sensitivity, and experience. And perhaps that is what I find most fascinating about anonymous paintings like these. The artist's name may disappear, but the work itself survives. With the cleaning process now complete, the next step is preservation. Before any retouching can begin, I need to isolate and protect the original paint surface. So I apply the conservation barrier varnish across the painting. This creates a protective separation layer between the original artwork and any future restoration work. One of the most important principles in conservation is reversibility. If decades from now another conservator needs to remove my retouching they should be able to do so safely without disturbing the original paint beneath. Because restoration is never really about the restorer, it's about preserving the work of someone who can no longer protect it themselves. And the reverse of the painting also needs attention. It needed to be cleaned. The original frame was also an important part of this painting's history. And my goal was never to make it look brand new. I wanted it to feel cared for, respected, while still remaining visually consistent with age and character of the portrait itself. Several decorative areas had been damaged or lost over time, so I prepared the traditional filler mixture using shulk and polyvinylic alcohol, creating a stronger and more durable material for the repairs. With great care I applied the filler to the damaged areas where parts of the ornamentation had been lost or broken over time. Once fully dry, the repairs were carefully shaped and refined using fine sandpaper and small sculpting tools until they blended naturally with the original decoration. Only then could I begin the gilding process. For the gilding work, I first applied the darker base tone matched closely to the original color already present on the frame. Once dry, I used the leftover gilding wax mixture from a previous restoration project and carefully applied it to the repaired areas using a soft brush. I allowed the wax to set slightly before gently softening and blending the surface using another brush and an old cloth. This helps recreate the softer appearance of the aged gilding, without making the frame look artificially bright or over-restored. Little by little, the frame began recovering its presence once again, not as something new, but as something carefully preserved. And now comes the part of the restoration process that is not the easiest, but I probably enjoyed the most. The retouching. It's also the stage that requires the greatest patience. For this work, I'm using reversible conservation pigments rather than traditional oil paint. These materials are specifically designed for restoration and long-term stability. They won't darken heavily over time. And most importantly, they can be safely removed in the future if necessary. Because good restorations should never create new problems for the next conservator. The work itself is extremely delicate. Tiny brush strokes, small color adjustments, slowly reintegrating losses and visually softening areas of damage. The goal is not to repaint the artwork, but simply to restore visual continuity when viewed at a normal distance. And at the same time, the interventions should always remain honest. Up close, it should still be possible to recognize where restoration has taken place. That transparency is an important part of the conservation ethics. Little by little, small interruptions in the surface begin disappearing. Colors regain their balance. The portrait begins feeling whole again. And in moments like these, restoration can feel almost like a quiet conversation across time between the original artist and the person trying carefully to preserve their work many decades later. The final stage of the restoration is the finishing varnish. This protective layer helps saturate the colors, unify the surface and protect both the original painting and the restoration work carried out during the process. As the varnish settles across the surface, the portrait gains its final depth and luminosity. Subtle tones begin harmonizing again. The skin regains warmth and the entire painting finally feels visually complete once more. Now comes the moment I had been waiting for. Returning the painting to its restored frame. For the first time in many decades, this portrait could finally be seen again as a complete object. Not as something forgotten beneath dirt and yellowed varnish, but as a painting with presence once again. Beneath all of that neglect, there were still signs of quality, sensitivity, confidence and humanity. And now, after the restoration, those qualities can finally be seen again. That makes every hour of the process worthwhile. When I first came across this portrait, it would have been very easy to ignore. Covered beneath layers of yellowed varnish, forgotten among countless other paintings, with no signature, no provenance and no clear history attached to it. At first glance, it seemed almost invisible, but there was something in it that stayed with me. And once the cleaning process began, I realized that beneath all of that neglect, the painting was still speaking. Not through a famous name or an important attribution, but through the quiet confidence of the work itself. Through the sensitivity of the portrait, through the understanding of light, color and expression. Whoever painted this may never be identified. The artist's name may remain lost to time, but the painting survives. And somehow that feels more important, because even without the signature, the work still has presence. It still has humanity. And now, after all these years, it can finally be seen again. Hello again. This was a very interesting project. I hope you enjoyed the restoration. In the beginning, I was a little bit skeptical. I wasn't totally sure. Although when I acquired this painting, I had the feeling, but I didn't see the painting personally, so I was not sure. But I'm very glad, because after the restoration, the painting revealed really, really beautiful, very well painted and very special. So now I have two options. I can send this painting again to be on auction, or I can put it in my site. So I'm going to choose the second option. I'm going to put it on my site. So if any of you is curious, the link is in the description. And I really want to thank you, to all of you, but especially to the new ones that are joining the community now. It's very good to have you here. Thank you very much for your presence. So now I want to wish you a wonderful week. I hope I see you on the next video. And until then, take care and have a good time. Bye.