GUEST: I've grown up with this painting. Originally, it came from my grandfather. He was a restauranteur in Chicago, and he also enjoyed fine art, and decided to open an art gallery. I know that this painting was purchased at auction in 1972 and put into the gallery. He then passed away a few years later and the gallery closed. And it was passed along to my grandmother. She unfortunately passed away earlier in 2016, and at that point, it was passed along to my sister and I. And we love it, we've always thought it was kind of a fun painting. And the subject matter, as little kids, we'd kind of giggle and show our friends.
APPRAISER: The painting you brought in today is what I kind of call a "wow picture." It's an oil painting on canvas. It's Austrian.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And it dates to the mid part of the 19th century. The artist is Carl Schweninger. The Schweningers were a family of artists. There's at least a junior and a senior, known as Carl I and Carl II. And we think this is Carl I.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And he lived during the 19th century, born in the early part of the century, died at the end. And he was known as both a landscape painter and a painter of interiors and genre pictures. He obviously had quite a lot of popularity. His studio must have been in real demand, because in researching this painting, I discovered multiple versions of this painting.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: Which had sold at auction in New York and in Austria.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: And they are very similar, but they're all quite different. The artist's position was different, the draperies were different, the items were different, and he probably had commissions to paint multiples of them for wealthy... the bourgeois population of the Vienna area and around. What do you think it's worth?
GUEST: Maybe around $5,000? We were actually told not to bother bringing it today. Other family members said that it's not going to be worth anything, really, so don't bother, but I've always just loved it.
APPRAISER: Well, don't you listen to those people. (laughing) The one that sold in New York most recently, which was quite comparable to this, sold for $50,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. Whoa.
APPRAISER: And my colleagues, who I chatted with about this, and I agree, that we think an appropriate auction estimate on this picture today would probably be between $30,000 and $40,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: The market for this kind of very classical mid-century European painting...
GUEST: Yeah...
APPRAISER: ...is softer than it was, so I don't want to encourage you with the $50,000 figure.
GUEST: Still... (laughs)
APPRAISER: But I think $30,000 to $40,000 would be a very comfortable figure to be in.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. That's fantastic.
APPRAISER: So aren't you glad you brought it?
GUEST: Oh, my gosh, yes! (laughter)
APPRAISER: Me, too.
GUEST: Take it home and enjoy it. But insure it. Yes, oh, yes.
APPRAISER: Maybe $50,000.
