B. J. O. Nordfeldt Two-sided Oil Painting, ca. 1915
Watch
GUEST:
The painting has been in my husband's family since the early 1900s. It was done by an artist named Nordfeldt, who was a friend of my father-in-law.
APPRAISER:
And you inherited this?
GUEST:
Yes. When my in-laws died, then the paintings came to us. We have a couple of others of his works, too. When my husband was growing up, this was the scene that he always saw, and he didn't care for it that much. There were other nudes by Nordfeldt that we had that he liked better, but this one he didn't like so much. And we were thinking we wouldn't hang it in our house, but then, as we were deciding where to put it, we noticed that the other side of it has a painting that we do like very much. And so that's the one that we have hanging in our house now.
APPRAISER:
So let's take a look at the other side.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So this is quite different. This is an example of what starving artists do when they can't afford a lot of materials.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
They'll paint on both sides of the canvas.
GUEST:
This one, as I understand it, was done in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and you can tell it's Provincetown because of some of the landmarks that are shown here.
APPRAISER:
Well, to give a little background on Nordfeldt, he was born in Sweden, and emigrated to Chicago when he was about 14 years old, where he started working at a newspaper as a typesetter. Then he got into doing illustrations...
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
...for the newspaper. The next thing he knew, he was studying at the Art Institute in Chicago, and he went off to study in Paris for about three years in 1900.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
And you could see, on the previous side, when we were looking at the painting of the nudes, that he had been influenced by Cézanne.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
In this picture, you can see also the influence of Matisse in the colors he selected, and the overall handling is a much more modern approach than what had been happening in American paintings up to this point.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
This painting actually relates to a woodcut that Nordfeldt did in 1916...
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
Which sold in 1991 for about $15,000. And the thing about the American market now is that it's very strong for American paintings.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And whereas it used to be very focused on American Impressionist paintings, those pictures are much harder to find, and the taste has really changed. So buyers now are more focused on the segment of earlier 20th century market.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
So I think that it would not be surprising if this picture could sell for over $100,000 in a retail gallery.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
It's a fantastic painting.
GUEST:
Well, that's... Wow. What about the other side of it? Is that...
APPRAISER:
Well, this is the important side.
Appraisal Details
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.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
