20th-Century Edward Borein Etching & Watercolor

Appraised on: June 24, 2006

Appraised in: Salt Lake City, Utah

Appraised by: Colleene Fesko

Category: Paintings & Drawings

Episode Info: Salt Lake City, Hour 2 (#1114)

Originally Aired: April 23, 2007

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (2:10)

GUEST: Well, these are actually my husband's, and he's been collecting them…

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: since, I think, the late '40s, early '50s. He had a grandfather and grandmother who lived in Santa Barbara, and I think that's where he told me he got his first, uh, pictures. And I just-- I thoroughly enjoy them.

APPRAISER: For some Western artists, it was more than enough to be an armchair cowboy, but not for Edward Borein. Borein was born in California in 1872, and when he was 12 years old he started riding. When he was 18 he became a working cowboy. Not unlike Charlie Russell or Frederic Remington, he was very interested in the authentic cowboy experience-- not too romanticized, but really showing the working cowboy. And in this wonderful watercolor, I think we can see the movement of the horse and rider, and it's really a wonderful animated scene. And also: great activity in the etching. Western art has become extraordinarily popular, and his market has increased as well. He died in 1945, and I would date both the watercolor and the etching to the last few decades of his life, perhaps the '30s or '40s.

GUEST: Thirties.

APPRAISER: The pieces are both in good condition. For your reference, they are in acidic mats. So the matting should be changed--

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: --so the acids don't leach into the paper. And with works on paper, in general, they should be kept dark, because they're very affected by light.

GUEST: Yeah, we've kept them in a... in the area where I have all the Boreins hanging, there's no light on it.

APPRAISER: Well, that's good.

GUEST: I mean, I knew that.

APPRAISER: Uh, this piece also has--

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: --an interesting notion here. And it's called a remark. And a remark is the printmaker's addition to the main part of the story and it's… it's very nice that this one is a pencil one rather than in the plate. They're wonderful examples of his work. In terms of auction estimates, I would value the watercolor as a unique item,

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: between $8,000 and $12,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: And, uh... the etching at roughly $1,000 to $1,500. So the two Borein pieces at between $10,000 and $15,000.

GUEST: Oh, my. That's wonderful.