GUEST: It's signed on the back, Fulton Ross.
APPRAISER: Uh-huh.
GUEST: The title of the piece is "Gigi." And I purchased it at an antique store in the town that I live, which is Patchogue.
APPRAISER: Oh, okay, and how much did you pay for it?
GUEST: I paid $45 for it. I tried to do a little research on the internet. It wasn't easy to find her name because it's signed Fulton Ross, instead of her full name, which is Gale Fulton Ross.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: So, um, I did find that Gigi is the name of a wife of a prominent art collector.
APPRAISER: Uh-huh.
GUEST: And he commissioned Gale Fulton Ross to create this of his wife, Gigi.
APPRAISER: What probably happened is that, as you say, it was commissioned by this person. The interesting thing is how is, how it ended up up here in, uh, uh, Long Island.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: The painting itself is, uh, signed on the back, Fulton Ross. Uh, it's dated 1995, and it has the title "Gigi." And it's funny, because when I first saw this painting, I thought there was something wrong with it, because...
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER: ...as you can see, all these...
GUEST: Right.
GUEST: ...splatter marks around and so forth. It almost looked like it was in, it was in distress. It's an oil on canvas. It's a pretty big painting. And it's got a wonderful, commanding presence. But again, when I saw it from a distance, I thought, "Oh, my goodness, this thing is probably going to be worth, I don't know, $5,000 or $6,000." But this is actually deliberate. She splattered the painting, and it gives it sort of an Expressionistic flair, too. It's not just a straight-up portrait.
GUEST: Right. That's what I liked about it. I like the fact that she's very formal, but it's very punk-looking and rebellious to have all this splatter.
APPRAISER: Yeah, exactly. So is that what attracted it to you when you saw it?
GUEST: It, I thought it must be what she's reading, sure. And I'm an English teacher, so I thought, if my husband didn't like the painting for our house, that I could bring it to the classroom.
APPRAISER: Ah, excellent, excellent, yeah. She's primarily known as a portrait painter, but she does sculpture and printmaking, as well. I would actually put the value somewhere around $17,500 retail.
GUEST: (laughs): Oh, my God-- oh, my God.
APPRAISER: Yeah. Yeah...
GUEST: That's every thrift shopper's dream. I'm so glad the power of reading still has some value. Thank you.
APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
