NO SHIT! Poop Covered Painting Sells For $3.1 Million

Lev Radin. Shutterstock Images.

Art News- Just over 20 years ago, this painting was found in a farm shed in Kinderhook, New York, its back reportedly streaked with bird poop. A local collector, Albert B. Roberts, had bought the painting for $600. That sum has now multiplied 5,125 times over. At Sotheby’s, the painting sold for $3.08 million. Although that number may seem like a lot for a work that may have once had fecal matter on it, it’s actually only just above the high estimate given to it by Sotheby’s. (It was also sold with an irrevocable bid.)

"Sometimes, there's money in shit" - Bryan Cammarata (The Sopranos: Season 4, Episode 7) 

This lucky son of a bitch just found that to be true as he turned a $600 roll of the dice into 3.1 million dollars for having a good eye. A modern day Gary Vee if you will. 

I have a few questions/ takes here:

A. Are we supposed to feel bad for the seller who ended up with just $600? My answer is no. That may be harsh but I equate it to selling a box of records or DVD's or video games or cards when you host a garage sale. If you truly just want to get rid of it that's fine, take them put them in a box on the table and you get what you get. But if you took 10-15 minutes extra to quickly ruffle through those cards for example, maybe you find a few things to pull out and hold for yourself. You are going to be standing outside for 6-8 hours auguring and haggling with strangers over kitchen furniture, wrestling figures and other household items for very little profit. Isn't the 15 minutes worth it to see if you have a Jordan card in there? Or that super sacred Nintendo Stadium Events game. Maybe that's just me but if I ever had a garage sale and spent 8 hours outside, I would at least look through what I had quickly to make sure it wasn't hidden treasure. 

2. Has anyone ever found anything worth their time at a garage sale? Do most people even stop when they see a garage sale? I feel like Gary Vee (friend of the program) has ruined people's expectations with these things. He shows the videos of him getting good stuff but how many did he stop at that provided zero returns? He just stared at a rack of out of style clothes and used mugs. 

D. I am dead serious when I ask this: Do they wash the shit off the painting before they sell it or display it? Or when someone buys it are they told it had bird shit on it?