text: Two rare paintings used to plan the filming of iconic scenes in The Wizard of Oz have sold for £35,000 some 76 years after the film was first released. One of the stunning watercolours, showing the moment Dorothy, Toto, the Tinman, the Lion and the Scarecrow meet the Wizard of Oz for the first time, went for £25,000. The other, imagining the Emerald City, capital of the Land of Oz and home to the Wizard, sold for £10,000. Both paintings, from the brush of famed art director Jack Martin Smith, were used to work out how the scenes might look once filming of the 1939 Hollywood classic began. One of the stunning watercolours, showing the moment Dorothy, Toto, the Tinman, the Lion and the Scarecrow meet the Wizard of Oz for the first time, went for £25,000 . It is thought that after filming was over the studio - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - sold off the paintings. Little is known about where they were until they surfaced at an estate sale in the late 1980s. The current owner instantly recognised the paintings as scenes from The Wizard of Oz and snapped them up for a small sum of money. She has kept them preserved for the past 25 years but has now decided the time is right to sell them. Each painting was tipped to fetch $9,000 - around £6,000 - at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, but ended up selling for an enormous combined total of £35,000 to an unnamed buyer. The other, imagining the Emerald City, capital of the Land of Oz and home to the Wizard, sold for £10,000 . Both paintings were used to work out how the scenes might look once filming of the 1939 Hollywood classic began . Margaret Barrett, Heritage's head of entertainment, said: 'Before filming started, the production crew's art team painted quick, off-the-cuff paintings of scenes which were then shown to the art director. 'He would then be able to plan how scenes were going to look before filming began. 'Jack Martin Smith was the lead artist and at the time would have just created these artworks very quickly but he was exceptionally skilled and they are now viewed as art in their own right. 'He went on to become one of the most famous art directors in Hollywood. 'When filming ended they were sold by the film studio. A woman then bought them at an estate sale 25 years ago, not as an investment but because she liked them. 'She has had them ever since but has now decided the time is right to sell them. The Wizard of Oz is one of the most-loved films of all time, pictured (l-r) main cast members Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger,  Judy Garland and Jack Haley . 'The Wizard of Oz is a beloved all-time classic and there is a very high demand for memorabilia from the film. 'These two paintings are very special and are attracting interest from all over the world.' The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, was based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is now one of the most-loved films of all time, but on its release it was a commercial failure making only $200,000  profit. It was nominated for six Oscars but lost out to Gone with the Wind. It was only when The Wizard of Oz started being shown on television in the mid 50s that people fell in love with it.
target: Two rare paintings by art director Jack Martin Smith have sold for £35,000 .
  They were used to plan the filming of iconic scenes in The Wizard of Oz .
  One of the watercolours shows moment Dorothy met Oz for the first time .
  Current owner bought paintings for small amount at estate sale in 1980s .