Mid-20th Century Wang Butterfly Wing Collage

Appraised on: July 10, 1999

Appraised in: Salt Lake City, Utah

Appraised by: Jerry Tomlin

Category: Decorative Arts

Episode Info: Wild Things (#916)

Originally Aired: December 19, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (1:36)

GUEST: Several years ago, against my wife's better wishes, we purchased a second home, and it was going to be a rental. And in that rental, in the back garage, I found this picture just kind of shuffled in the back corner, dusted, old, with a bunch of other farm equipment. I brought it out, I looked at it. First, it's kind of a heavy glazed-looking picture, but then as I looked closer, it's not oil and it's not anything of that medium. It appears to be different type of insect wings-- particularly, butterfly wings-- and it's awful startling.

APPRAISER: Yes, it is incredible, isn't it? Well, what they've done, actually, is to try and recreate something similar in the technique to a Van Gogh painting. But the simple fact of the matter is that it is a collage of butterfly wings on top of gesso paint, which is an incredible, incredible detail throughout the entire painting itself. And I think it's an extraordinary find. It's framed in a very beautiful, typical-of-the-period, mid-20th-century frame of repousse metal, which also goes along with the type and time of this particular artist, M.S. Wang. Tell me, have you any idea of what you think the value is of this?

GUEST: I have no idea, but you're making me nervous. (chuckles)

APPRAISER: Well, I hope you'll jump for joy because it's worth $10,000.

GUEST: Oh, heavens. Thank you.