Walter Anderson Watercolor, ca. 1950

Appraised on: July 24, 2010

Appraised in: Biloxi, Mississippi

Appraised by: Colleene Fesko

Category: Paintings & Drawings

Episode Info: Biloxi, Hour 2 (#1514)

Originally Aired: May 9, 2011

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:20)

APPRAISER: What can you tell me about this wonderful Walter Anderson watercolor?

GUEST: I think that it was probably painted in the '40s or '50s. We inherited it from my sister-in-law, who had purchased it from Walter's family.

APPRAISER: Now, was his wife still alive then?

GUEST: Yes, yes. Sissy-- his wife Agnes, we called her Sissy-- was alive until eight or ten years ago.

APPRAISER: Now, what was his connection with Shearwater Pottery?

GUEST: Walter was the middle brother of the Andersons. Their mother had come over to Ocean Springs to more or less bring her boys for the outdoors and to organize an art colony. She was an artist herself and she was the inspiration of all of this.

APPRAISER: I didn't realize that.

GUEST: Now, Peter was the oldest brother, and Peter organized Shearwater Pottery. Walter would decorate the pots.

APPRAISER: The style that he works in is so unusual because he did have training at the Pennsylvania Academy. But then he went off on this amazingly beautiful tangent of sort of visionary animals and design and nature. From the style of the watercolor, I would date it to probably the '40s or '50s, and could have been painted while he was on Horn Island. I'm thinking that the mat may be an acidic mat.

GUEST: I'm afraid of that, too.

APPRAISER: It's definitely worth having reframed. On the right-hand corner, we have the estate stamp, which is a monogrammed variation of "W.I.A."-- Walter Inglis Anderson. This is a stamp that the family applied to pieces after his death. It's a wonderful watercolor that I would estimate at auction between $25,000 and $35,000.

GUEST: (laughs)

APPRAISER: Oh, yes.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: With an insurance value of $35,000.

GUEST: Well, I am so thrilled and excited, and I'm sure the children will be just as excited because it will never be sold.