I modeled for Norman Rockwell as a child and kept the painting – now it’s worth $90,000 after Kellogg’s rejected it

A WOMAN has discovered a painting she posed for as a child is now worth $90,000.

It was made by famous American artist Norman Rockwell, originally as art for a Kellogg’s cereal box.

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A guest from Boston, Massachusetts appeared on an episode of Antiques roadshow to evaluate your painting.

As a young girl, her father worked as Norman Rockwell’s photographer, and she was often brought in to pose for the artist.

Rockwell was once painting what he hoped would be new art for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes boxes and used it as a model.

“He sent them to Kellogg’s and they didn’t pick them,” she explained.

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“They said we were too pretty and that they wanted healthier, more American-looking kids. hair and freckles.

“So they sent the paintings back to Norman, and he gave them to my father.”

The painting was inscribed with the words: “My best wishes to Chickie Pelham, by Norman Rockwell.”

Appraiser Alasdair Nichol recommended she insure the painting for $80,000 to $90,000 at the time of filming in 2012.

Along with the painting, she also had a wooden chair from Rockwell’s studio, where the artist sat while painting some of his best-known works.

Nichol told his guest that the chair “would fetch at least $50,000” at auction.

“Oh my God, you’re kidding!” she said, in shock.

“It’s quite iconic to think about the incredible paintings he did when he was sitting in this chair,” the expert explained.

“I was thinking maybe a few thousand dollars,” she said.

However, in 2024, the painting and chair together were worth a total of $230,000, Antiques Roadshow has since revealed.

Who is Norman Rockwell?

Norman Rockwell (1984-1978) was a prolific American painter and illustrator.

He was best known for reflecting the culture of America in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Rockwell’s illustrations graced the covers of the Saturday Evening Post, the novels Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and Boy Scouts of America publications.

In 2013, his 1951 painting “Saying Grace” broke auction records when it was sold at Sotheby’s in New York for US$46 million.

ANOTHER EXPENSIVE PHOTO

Another Antiques Roadshow guest brought a painting her husband received as a gift when he worked for a moving company.

The piece had been hanging in their home for 20 years, but the couple had no idea of ​​its value.

Appraiser Nigel Freeman told the guest that the painting was by Ed Ruscha, one of the pioneering Pop Art and Conceptualist painters of the 1980s.

As a result, he estimated it was worth $25,000.

Another Antiques Roadshow guest won a baseball jersey worth $200,000.

And a rare piece of memorabilia from a famous movie was valued at $35,000.