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Albert Bierstadt Oil Paintings, ca. 1870

Value (2022) | $75,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
These were wedding gifts to my parents, Uh, 1948.

APPRAISER:
Oh, wow.

GUEST:
And my parents were, uh, from New York, and both working in Manhattan at the time.

APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.

GUEST:
We've always had them in our homes. Uh, I moved them several times, but I didn't know this was a famous artist till I watched ANTIQUES ROADSHOW…

APPRAISER:
Oh!

GUEST:
...and they showed a Bierstadt painting. And I have two of those downstairs in a box.

APPRAISER:
And, do you have them hanging now?

GUEST:
This one has been hanging, this one not.

APPRAISER:
Both of these are signed "A. Bierstadt."

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
Bierstadt was German-born, he lived from 1830 to 1902. He's probably best known for his Western subjects.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
His magnificent views of the Rockies and so on. Of course, he's represented in almost every major institution in America. He also painted, however, in Europe, where he was from, as well as the East Coast and even the Caribbean. Date-wise, these are probably 1860s to 1870. The painting on the left is quite characteristic of what we expect of the artist, the way the trees are done, as well as the great, luminous quality of the sky. You also notice there's a lot of nice texture in the sky. The one closest to me is much more unusual. Bierstadt rarely did seascapes, and this probably is an East Coast scene, and we're not sure about the other one. They might both be East Coast subjects. Now, what's very interesting about this artist is that often his paintings were signed by other people. Sometimes family members after he died, and in terms of your pieces, both of them are signed "A. Bierstadt." The A and B are conjoined, which is very typical of what he did.

GUEST:
Ah.

APPRAISER:
However, the signatures on both are really rather large for the overall composition, and a little bit stilted in terms of the way they're done. So it's my feeling that there's a possibility that these might have been signed by a family member as opposed to by Bierstadt himself. And when we run across paintings like this, we often like to have them researched by the experts. And there is a catalogue raisonné project which is being put together by a gallery in Santa Fe. And then there are also two major scholars who have been working on the artist for quite a long time. And so if we were going to sell these, or were we, place an insurance value on them, we would want to show them to those experts. They both are really in nice condition. I think they're somewhat dirty, and e...

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
Especially in the seascape, you'll note here in the upper left, there's a bright blue color. If this were cleaned, the sky would be that color. These are frames that are characteristic of the late 1940s and '50s. They are not original to the paintings, but they would have been from around the time that your parents got them.

GUEST:
The period, yeah.

APPRAISER:
Now, in terms of value, have you had any thoughts?

GUEST:
When I discovered that this was a noted artist, I did try to search for them online. Similar sizes ranged anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 or $7,000.

APPRAISER:
Well, Bierstadt was fairly prolific, and especially for these oil sketches. But Bierstadt is extremely popular as an artist, and if in fact they are Bierstadt, the piece on the left, because of the luminosity and the size and also the, the landscape feature, a gallery would probably ask somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000.

GUEST:
No kidding.

APPRAISER:
The seascape...

GUEST:
That's surprising.

APPRAISER:
Yeah.

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
The seascape is more unusual, and it's probably more in the perhaps $15,000 range.

GUEST:
Yeah, wow.

APPRAISER:
Um, but if we find out, for any reason, that they are not by Bierstadt, then the value could be very minimal.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Each of them would be under $1,000.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
So it's quite a difference, and well worth doing the research to verify the authenticity...

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
...and also to verify the subject.

GUEST:
Quite a difference from the $125 price tag on the back. You know?

APPRAISER:
Yes, exactly! GUEST AND

APPRAISER:
(both laugh)

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Debra Force
Paintings & Drawings
Debra Force Fine Art, Inc.
Debra Force Fine Art, Inc.
New York, NY
Update (2022)
$75,000 Retail
Appraised value (2008)
$65,000 Retail
Featured In
Grand Rapids, Hour 2 (#1314)
Vintage Grand Rapids, Hour 2 (#2619)
Event
Grand Rapids, MI (August 09, 2008)
Category
Paintings & Drawings
Period
19th Century
Form
Landscape , Painting , Seascape
Material
Oil
October 24, 2022: In May 2022, Paintings appraiser Debra Force informed ANTIQUES ROADSHOW that she is confident these paintings are indeed authentic works by Albert Bierstadt after sharing images of the paintings by email with Melissa Speidel, director of the Albert Bierstadt Catalogue Raisonné Project in San Mateo, California.

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.

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