Claude Monet is recognised as one of the foremost painters of the French Impressionist genre, and one art dealer discovered more than he bargained for after purchasing two of his paintings.

Or should I say three.

Jonathan Green, an art dealer, purchased two pastels by the impressionist master at an auction in Paris, and hidden behind the folds of one of these pastels was a lost, hand-drawn sketch of a jetty in La Harve, Monet’s childhood home.

The sketch depicts a jetty with a small boat bouncing on the tides of the ricer.

Dalya Alberge of The Guardian noted:

“Green headed home from France with what he thought were two wonderful, rare pastel studies of skies, in which Monet explored fleeting effects of nature and light. It was only later he discovered the hidden treasure{…]”

Green told The Guardian:

“We were very excited. […] Pastels by him are incredibly rare. These are a pointer to the future….you can see his fascination with light.”

Monet loved drawing, but is most famous for his paintings, and his pastels are rare, which makes this find an even bigger treat for the art community.

According to MentalFloss, Monet actually gave these three pastels as a wedding present to his art dealer’s granddaughter, Anne-Marie Durand-Ruel, in 1924, and the works stayed in the family until the auction in Paris last year.

Susan Morris, a senior researcher for the Richard Green gallery said:

“It’s very unusual to have three Monet pastels. They really don’t come up much. It’s also exciting to have it from Durand-Ruel, the man who created Monet’s career.”

The pastel was authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute, a French art research centre.

The pastels are to be unveiled publicly at the Masterpiece 2015 art fair, and will be sold together for a cool $1.4 million.

Green has acknowledged that the third image altered the price, and did not offer how much was paid for the original two pastels.

Regardless of how much was paid for the pastels, to the art community and for art history, they are certainly priceless.