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A long-lost masterpiece by one of the leading figures of Poland's realism movement has been discovered hanging on a wall in a suburban villa near Warsaw.

The painting by Józef Chełmoński titled Summer Evening had been missing for 133 years, leaving art historians, museum curators, and private collectors believing it had been lost forever.

Valued at an eye-watering 3-5 million Polish złoty, the rediscovered artwork had been passed down through successive generations of the same family before the current owners realized what it was.DESA Unicum

Valued at an eye-watering 3-5 million Polish złoty, this rediscovered artwork had been passed down through successive generations of the same family.

"Summer Evening" remained a mystery, with only a pencil sketch preserved in the National Museum in Kraków as a faint trace of its existence.

DESA Unicum

The family discovered it was the renowned lost masterpiece by Józef Chełmoński, an artist celebrated for his exceptional realism.Public domain

Last seen in 1890 during an individual exhibition at the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw, the painting's subsequent fate remained shrouded in uncertainty.

The current owners of the painting recently embarked on a quest to unravel the history behind the canvas that had adorned the family home's walls for over a century.

The painting depicts an interior scene, which is a rarity in Chełmoński's work.DESA Unicum

To their astonishment, they discovered that the family treasure was, in fact, the renowned lost masterpiece by Chełmoński, an artist celebrated for his exceptional realism.

The painting is now due to go up for auction at auctioneers DESA Unicum in Warsaw later this month.

Experts from the auction house estimate the value of "Summer Evening" at between 3 and 5 million zlotys.

The woman is most likely Chełmoński's cousin.DESA Unicum

The painting dates back to 1875 when Chełmoński had a studio on the fifth floor of Warsaw's Hotel Europejski, which he shared with other artists, including Antoni Piotrowski, Stanislaw Witkiewicz and Adam Chmielowski.

An X-ray of the canvas has shown that Chelmoński painted over the top of a sketch by his friend Antoni Piotrowski.

The artists, it seems, not only lived together in their studio, but also exchanged canvases and painted over them repeatedly to save on materials.

The painting is now due to go up for auction at auctioneers DESA Unicum in Warsaw later this month with an estimated value of between 3 and 5 million zlotys.Paweł Supernak/PAP

The painting depicts an interior scene, which is a rarity in Chełmoński's work. The woman is most likely Chełmoński's cousin.

According to Tomasz Dziewicki, head of DESA Unicum's Department of Old Art, when the painting was exhibited in 1875, it generated huge controversy. Embittered, Chełmoński left for Paris in the same year.

The lost Chełmoński painting and other works by world-class early art artists can be seen at DESA Unicum in Warsaw before the auction on June 15.