1939 Grant Wood "Fertility" Lithograph
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GUEST:
My older sister gave it to me several years ago, and it's a Grant Wood lithograph, I think. I don't see any numbers on it. And I think she purchased it in Iowa City when she was doing graduate studies there many years ago.
APPRAISER:
While he was there?
GUEST:
He was... yes, he was teaching there.
APPRAISER:
It is indeed a Grant Wood, it's a lithograph by Grant Wood, probably better known to most people as the painter of the famous painting American Gothic.
GUEST:
Exactly.
APPRAISER:
An iconic American image. But Grand Wood also made 20 different lithographs, different lithographic subjects. And this is one of them, in fact, one of his more popular lithographs, I believe one of his more popular lithographs because the scenery resembles American Gothic.
GUEST:
Yes, it does.
APPRAISER:
The lithograph was published by a firm out of New York, Associated American Artists, who during the 1930s through the 1960s were issuing prints by artists, some better known than others, to be sold inexpensively so people could own original art for fairly modest sums.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This is, like the other lithographs that Grant Wood made under the auspices of Associated American Artists, one of an edition of 250. But none of them were numbered. And unlike his contemporaries-- Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, the other regionalists-- Wood only made 20 different lithographs, whereas those other artists made a couple hundred each. So they're much more common. This is a lithograph entitled Fertility. He made it in 1939.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It's in the original mat. You can see on the edge of the mat, there's some brown on the mat cut. That probably translates to some mat stain just beneath the mat, which is not going to be very detrimental to the value of the print.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A fair replacement value on this, or an insurance value, would be in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $12,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my.
APPRAISER:
So...
GUEST:
I'm very surprised.
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