1900 Oscar Berninghaus Watercolor
GUEST: This is an Oscar Berninghaus watercolor. Oscar Berninghaus and my great-grandfather were friends. My great-grandfather was Francis Healy. He owned an art gallery here in St. Louis, and he was president of the art commission. And Oscar Berninghaus signed this over to my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather gave it to my dad. Signed it over to my dad. So then my dad passed away in 2004. It was specifically meant to go to me.
APPRAISER: So he knew that you liked it.
GUEST: Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER: Down at the lower left, it is inscribed. Can you read it?
GUEST: Yes. "To F.D.H," which is Francis Dennis Healy. That was my great-grandfather.
APPRAISER: In addition to being the, uh, arts commissioner here, he had a very prominent gallery. And he was the first gallery to give Berninghaus an exhibition...
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER:...actually, when Berninghaus was 25 years old. And this is right when Berninghaus went to Taos for the first time. Now, when we talk about Berninghaus today, a lot of people know that he came from St. Louis, but most people, when they think about him, they think of him as one of the founders and one of the most important artists of the Taos Society of Artists. And he did go there, originally, around 1899.
GUEST: Oh...
APPRAISER: He really instantly fell in love...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...with that part of the world and with Taos itself and the Pueblo, which this is a depiction of. And then he came back and he showed a lot of these watercolors and other paintings at your great-grandfather's, uh, gallery, yeah.
GUEST: Oh, at his gallery. Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: So in a way, he was, uh, your great-grandfather was very, very important to the history of American art and history of American Western art.
GUEST: I didn't know that. Neat.
APPRAISER: There's a sticker on the back that still has the label from Healy Galleries.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Berninghaus started as a commercial illustrator. One of the first art patrons...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:...of-of Berninghaus was the Busch family.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: And they supported him throughout his artistic career.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Both as a commercial artist and as a fine artist. Later in 1914, Berninghaus did a printed booklet of illustrations of scenes from the American West that was done and promoted for the Busch family.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: So he always considers himself a St. Louis artist who would spend some time in Taos.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: What I think he was instrumental in doing was in, um, really bringing this love of the American West...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:...back to the...
GUEST: back to here,
APPRAISER: which is really the city of... that is the gateway to the West.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: The medium is watercolor and gouache on paper. So, it's mostly watercolor...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER:...highlighted with, uh, some gouache painting, like in the white parts. And it just depicts a scene from daily life.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So it is signed and dated lower left. It says 1900, and it even has a day and, and month. A work like this is going to be conservatively estimated at auction at around $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST: Okay. Sounds good.
APPRAISER: If you were to insure this...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...I would insure it at around $8,000.
GUEST: Okay.
$3,000 Auction
$8,000 Insurance
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
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