The 1925 oil canvas, titled "The Drugstore," was acquired by a California family for a mere $100 in 1939, as documented in the original bill of sale kept by the heirs.
The painting, a 40‑by‑40‑inch work by Hungarian‑born Californian Impressionist Joseph Kleitsch, depicts a 1920s Laguna Beach drugstore and surrounding trees, capturing a community still in its formative years.
In 2014, art expert Debra Force evaluated the piece on PBS's Antiques Roadshow and assigned a retail value of $500,000, citing its rarity and the strong Californian market for Kleitsch’s work.
Following the televised appraisal, the Dilks purchased the painting in 2016 for an undisclosed sum that surpassed the television estimate, according to a report by Outdoor Painter.
The work subsequently entered the public eye again, first on display at the Irvine Museum in 2016 and later in a 2023 exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum dedicated to Kleitsch's oeuvre.
The trajectory from a $100 family treasure to a multi‑hundred‑thousand‑dollar cultural artifact underscores both the economic and historical value embedded in early Californian Impressionism.