19th-Century John F. Kensett Paintings

Appraised on: August 5, 2006

Appraised in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Appraised by: David McCarron

Category: Paintings & Drawings

Episode Info: Jackpot! (#1116)
Philadelphia, Hour 3 (#1106)

Originally Aired: February 5, 2007

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (1:39)

GUEST: I got a couple paintings I got at a yard sale.

APPRAISER: And how much did you pay for them?

GUEST: $35 for the pair.

APPRAISER: For the pair.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: And have you ever had them appraised at all?

GUEST: I did have them appraised one time. My wife worked at the library, and they had an appraisal affair going on. And I took them down there to have them appraised, and the lady said... worth about $800, $900 for the pair of them, and if I wanted to sell them, she knew somebody who'd buy them off me.

APPRAISER:: And you know who the artist is?

GUEST: Yeah, I believe it's John F. Kensett?

APPRAISER: Okay. Well, John Frederick Kensett, a major American artist, Hudson River School, luminous school, 19th century. These are beautiful, small landscapes. And he was probably best known for painting in Rhode Island, and was also the first Hudson River School painter that had gone to the American West. And these are both painted with oil on artist board. Now, these are not signed, but each of them has a little inscription in the lower right-hand corner inscribed to someone. This one says "Louis Parmly from J.F. Kensett" and then a date in July of 1853. The other one is similarly inscribed, but with the initials "JFK," typical for a Kensett. The American market is very, very strong at this point. And I've consulted with my colleagues at the painting table, and we feel that they're perfectly right for Kensett. And that I think a very conservative estimate at auction would be $30,000 to $50,000 each.

GUEST: $30,000 to $50,000?

APPRAISER: $30,000 to $50,000 each.

GUEST: Holy moley.