Jackson Pollock for sale in Toronto

Abstract Expressionism - It was a thrift-shop find for $5 and now it's being put up for sale in Toronto with a price tag of $50 million.

A painting by Jackson Pollock will be on display this month at a small, east-end gallery, with its American owner, Teri Horton, seeking a Canadian buyer.

The retired trucker, who found the painting some 15 years ago in San Bernardino, California, says she's been so badly treated by the U.S. art market - which has refused to acknowledge its forensic authentication (Jackson Pollock's fingerprints in the paint) - that she wants a Canadian to buy the colourful abstract canvas.

"For a long time I'd been wanting this painting out of the U.S.A. because they don't deserve the painting," Horton said Tuesday.

"This is the 21st century - the century of science.... They don't want science into art authentication because it's going to expose all the corruption within the U.S.A. art market."

Horton has entrusted the Pollock painting, measuring 1.7-by-1.2 metres and featuring navy, off-white, black, red and yellow paint, to Gallery Delisle in eastern Toronto.

Owner Michelle Delisle says she reached out to Horton after seeing the documentary, "Who the $%& is Jackson Pollock?" in which the gravel-voiced Horton discovers she may have a masterwork on her hands, but comes up against an established art market that refuses to acknowledge evidence provided by a Montreal forensic expert.

Believing the painting to be a real Pollock, Delisle contacted Horton last month and now the painting will be on display at the gallery for two weeks beginning Nov. 13, with private viewings available by appointment from Nov. 1.

"The person that buys this painting is laughing after this because as soon as it's purchased it'll be validated," said Delisle.

"A painting's value is the last price paid, so if this person was to then turn around five years later and bring it to Christie's or Sotheby's (they could do well). The last Pollock that came up to market went for $140 million...and this is a little bit smaller but not a lot. A $50-million price tag is very fair. It's very fair."

Horton says she's had offers to buy the painting in the past, but at $2 million and $9 million bids, they fell far below what she feels it's worth. Bidders with even higher offers were ultimately scared off by New York art advisers who consistently counseled against the purchase, she adds.

Canadian art observers doubt Horton will get her price in Canada, given that serious collectors in Canada tend to favour homegrown artists and that few have the bankroll to meet the steep asking price.