No, that $4 painting didn’t sell for $191,000

To Tracy Donahue, the whole thing had felt like winning the lottery. And in a sense, she and her husband, Tom, had.

Donahue’s lucky break has been well documented: She strolled into a Savers thrift store years ago, purchased a $4 painting that struck her fancy, and then discovered it was, in fact, a rare and valuable N.C. Wyeth illustration.

When the painting sold at auction in September for $191,000, the Donahues — who live in a modest New Hampshire home and seldom have money for adventures — began mentally allocating how they would spend the windfall on bills and a trip to visit their son in Germany.

But the person who bid on the painting never paid, a decision that Donahue called her “biggest disappointment ever.”

The Donahues have since retaken possession of their painting from the auction house, Bonhams. All they have to show for their efforts is a new cardboard box, courtesy of the Bonhams shipping department.

“Luckily we didn’t spend a dime beforehand,” Donahue said. “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.

“We’re crushed,” she added. “I’ve never gotten that close to, you know, hoping for something.”

It is not clear to Tracy Donahue, 56, and Tom Donahue,

58, exactly how their fortunes turned from that heady day when the auctioneer opened the bidding at $150,000. Someone bid immediately; no additional bids followed, and the painting was sold to paddle 6073. (The buyers premium increased the price to $191,000.)

Exactly how often buyers refuse to pay for art they have bid on is hard to quantify. But experts say that, while rare, it does happen. In one high-profile example, Alan Bond, an Australian industrialist and billionaire, struggled to pay for “Irises” — a famed Vincent van Gogh painting — after winning it at auction, and eventually sold the work to the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Auction houses prescreen potential bidders on high-value items, but do not typically have enough people to do so for all bidders on the many items they put up each week. Some number of sales do get canceled, experts say. And although a sale may legally be considered final when the hammer falls, it is not fully consummated until the auction house receives its payment. Only in extreme cases, when it makes financial sense, do auction houses sue over a failure to pay.

In its online guide, Bonhams says potential buyers must register and provide a valid credit card or a photo identification before being approved to bid.