If you're not an art connoisseur, it looks a lot like a bunch of squiggly lines on a page.
But to an expert, it's a stunning find - an original
Jackson Pollock, an American painter and an artist considered a master of abstract expressionism.
How this painting came to be on display and up for sale in a local Toronto gallery is the stuff of legend. You may remember the unbelievable story surrounding a woman named Teri Horton, a retired truck driver who loved to frequent thrift shops around North America.
When she entered one of them in California in the 1990s, she spotted a picture lying unused in a corner, a piece of artwork that no one seemed to want.
What happened next inspired
a movie and a legend.
"Teri is a known treasure hunter and she searches garbage dumps, thrift stores, flea markets," explains Michelle Delisle (top left, with the famous painting), who owns the gallery where the work will be shown next month. "And she saw this painting in a flea market that had a price tag of $8 on it.
"She hated it but thought it was funny. And she was going to buy it for her depressed friend. And she brought it to the counter and the lady said it was $8 and Teri said she's willing to pay $5, she doesn't love her friend that much.
"And they were planning on drinking some beers and throwing darts at it. They never got around to the darts ... A friend of hers was dating an art teacher and he looked at it and said 'you very well may have a Jackson Pollock on your hands.'
"And she came back with the statement 'Who the F is Jackson Pollock?' And it all began from there."
That statement became the name of a 2006 documentary featuring her story, including her struggles to prove her five buck painting was really the masterpiece many claimed it was.
It was finally authenticated and now there's no doubt about its value.
The painting has since been assessed as being worth a stunning $50 million, surely the greatest flea market bargain in history.
It's going to be shown to prospective buyers by appointment only for the next two weeks, before going on display at Delisle's gallery on Queen St. E. in the Beach starting November 13th.
But not just any millionaire can buy it. It's Horton's hope this sensational story ends with a sale to a Canadian.
"Teri does not want this painting to go to an American at all," Delisle outlines. She claims Horton didn't get a fair shake from dealers in the U.S. and hopes a Canadian or an international buyer takes it home.
But she's refusing to sell it to anyone from south of the border.
Delisle believes it's worth the asking price. "Jackson Pollock is an extremely important abstract artist of the 20th century, much like Picasso," she explains. "The last painting that came to market for a Jackson Pollock sold for $144 million and in fact it's a painting that looks a lot like this one."
Will anyone pay $50 million for the incredible bargain of a lifetime? That answer has yet to be determined, but the story has attracted worldwide notoriety - and there's a good chance it will end right here in Toronto.
Teri's Find