Lithograph worth $9,000 found at Wisconsin Goodwill

Buying art at Goodwill appears to be the latest get-rich trend.

Last spring, a 362-year-old Flemish painting was purchased for $3 at a South Carolina Goodwill. It sold for $190,000 at auction.

This summer, a North Carolina artist bought a painting for $10. It turned out to be the work of abstract artist Ilya Bolotowsky — and was worth $20,000.

In November, a Salvador Dali etching was found at a Tacoma, Washington, Goodwill.

Karen Mallet of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, recently purchased a print titled "Red Nose" at her local Goodwill store for $12.34. She didn't even like the graphic image at first. She was just intrigued by the Calder signature on it.

"I thought, 'I don't know if it's real or not, but it's $12.99. I've wasted more on worse things,'" she told the Associated Press.

It was real. The lithograph by American artist Alexander Calder was worth $9,000.

"That's kind of part of shopping at Goodwill — the thrill of the hunt," Cheryl Lightholder, communications manager for Goodwill in southeastern Wisconsin, told the Associated Press.

Mallet says, despite a not-so-great first impression, she has no immediate plans to sell the valuable lithograph.

"It grew on me," she said. "Now I love it."