Easy come, easy go! New Hampshire couple is forced to cancel dream vacation after $190,000 buyer of $4 painting they found in thrift store pulls out of the purchase

A New Hampshire couple's dreams came true when they auctioned off a painting they bought for $4 from a thrift shop for a whopping $191,000 - but their dreams were crushed when the buyer pulled out. 

Tracy Donahue, 56, from Hudson, New Hampshire, was shopping for a picture frame in her local Savers thrift store in 2017 when she stumbled upon a rare treasure.

Donahue thought she had simply bought an old painting for $4 at a thrift shop - but was shocked to discover it was a work by iconic American painter and illustrator N.C. Wyeth.

She and her husband Tom Donahue, 58, felt like they had won the lottery when they sold the valuable painting at the auction house Bonhams for a staggering $191,000.

The couple were so excited they started planning how they would splash out with their new found fortune - but eventually it became apparent that the buyer was not going to follow through with their purchase.

One of the luxuries that the couple was looking forward to was a trip to Germany to visit their son - and they also planned to spend the money on bills. 

The Donahues lived a modest lifestyle in their New Hampshire home and rarely splurged on extravagant luxuries or expensive adventures.

'Luckily we didn’t spend a dime beforehand,' Tracy Donahue told The New York Times. 'We maybe went out to dinner once or twice, which we wouldn’t have. So, it’s not like actually losing money. But it meant so much.'

She even called the buyer's neglection her 'biggest disappointment ever' and said: 'We’re crushed. I’ve never gotten that close to, you know, hoping for something.'

The painting was sold at auction in September for $191,000 after the auctioneer opened the bidding at $150,000 and someone bid immediately.

No higher bids came after the initial offer - and the painting was solid to paddle 6073 with the buyers premium raising the cost to $191,000.

Auction houses do have measures in place to pre-screen their bidders on high-value items - but occasionally sales do get canceled. 

Sales seem final when the hammer falls - but in some instances bidders pull out after the fact.

The Bonhams website states that - in order to get approved to bid - buyers must register for an account and provide the necessary documents.

The Donaehues were told that they would be paid within 35 days back in September - but by mid-October they grew anxious and called Bonhams. They claimed the auction house was frustratingly unresponsive and didn't seem to care.

Eventually Bonhams sent the couple an eight-page contract proposing that - if the Donahues could lawyer-up - they would be rewarded $132,750.

But the pair found these terms unsatisfactory - so they picked up their painting instead.

The Donahues might keep the item as a family heirloom. 'We didn’t have the money before, we don’t have it now,' Tracy Donahue said. 'Right now it’s worth $4 — and a cardboard box.'

Tracy Donahue learned of the value her painting held when she shared the work on a Facebook group named 'Things found in Walls' and people started leaving interesting comments.

Many informed the painter's owner that the piece could be an N.C. Wyeth and advised her to visit the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, and Wyeth curator Lauren Lewis.

Lewis drove to Maine, and became immediately excited at the sight of the painting. 

The woman then took the painting to Bonham's, where experts confirmed its likely provenance thanks to the style, backing panel and the type of frame, which all matched Wyeth's work.

Auction house expert Kathleen Leland explained the artist used a 'particular type of artist board — Weber 'Renaissance' panels, distinctive for their red backs and elaborate labels,' as reported by art blog Hyperallergic.

The painting shows a merciless foster mother, Senora Gonzaga Moreno, and an orphan, Ramona.