When you go for a root around a flea market or Brockenhaus, part of you always hopes that the piece you pick up for a few francs will turn out to be a valuable long-lost masterpiece. Last week, this hope came true for a man from Zurich, after the painting he bought at a local market managed to sell for over 360.000 francs.

Painting bought at Zurich market from Chinese artist Lin Fengmian

According to the Koller auction house, the man who wishes to remain anonymous purchased the painting 10 years ago at a flea market run by a local law firm. After paying 400 francs for the piece, upon inspection it turned out to be a painting by Lin Fengmian, a pioneer in Chinese modern art who passed away in 1991.

Untitled, the piece depicts the monkey king Sun Wukong and his operatic entourage in the play “Tumult in Heaven”. "He fell in love with the painting, which is why he bought it at the time," noted the head of the Asian Art Department at Koller, Regi Preiswerk. He added that when the man bought it, he didn’t even know who the artist was. You can see what the painting looks like below (it's the third slide):

Flea market find in Zurich sells for over 360.000 francs

10 years on, the man noticed that Koller had sold a painting by the same artist in the past. After contacting the auction house for an appraisal, he discovered that his flea market 400-franc find was actually valued at 180.000 francs. Last week, the painting managed to sell at auction for a whopping 375.000 francs.

When faced with the news of his sudden windfall, Preiswerk said that initially, he was “sad that the painting had left his collection,” even if he can now afford just over 15 bog standard Fiat 500s. “He buys what he likes - and he really liked Lin's picture,” he concluded.

Thumb image credit: Y. W / Shutterstock.com