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A Million-Dollar Eye for Art

Elizabeth Gibson found a painting sitting between trash bags, waiting for the garbage truck in front of a Manhattan apartment. Turns out, it was a Rufino Tamayo painting stolen 20 years ago — that's now worth $1 million.

Gibson says she didn't really like the painting, but was mysteriously drawn to it. Despite having no background in art, Gibson says there was something about the abstract painting that caused to her pluck it out of the trash minutes before garbage trucks would have hauled it off.

The one-of-a-kind Tamayo belongs to a Texas couple who had put the painting storage in 1987 while they were moving. That's where the painting was stolen.

How it ended up in the garbage on a New York City street corner is still a mystery.

Gibson returned the painting to its owners, who are putting it up for auction.

But she isn't walking away completely empty-handed. Gibson will receive a reward for finding and returning the painting.

Gibson talks to Alex Chadwick about her pricy discovery.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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