GUEST: They've been in the family for many, many years. And one day, they'll be given to our two daughters.
APPRAISER: Oh, that's terrific. Now, were the paintings acquired in California or how did they get here?
GUEST: No, from Boston. We moved here in 1950.
APPRAISER: And they were in your wife's family for decades, no doubt.
GUEST: Yes, yes. Back 1800s and earlier.
APPRAISER: Really? The painting on the easel is by an artist named Harry van der Weyden, who was born in England and then traveled to Boston. And this painting is by an artist named Ignaz Marcel Gaugengigl. It's signed here. And the painting is also titled, "Schmerz Vergessen." And it means to forget the pain. This is a genre scene of an artist playing his cello with the light streaming in and really a very, very romantic scene. What's interesting to me about these paintings, aside from the obvious quality of them, is that they really represent sort of the golden age of Boston collecting and Boston high style. Movements go from different cities; New York, Paris, Moscow. And in the late 19th century, Boston was really a center of innovations in the United States. And these pieces are really sort of the classic example of what Bostonians were collecting. Gaugengigl was born in Bavaria, and this really tight, tight style is something that he's known for. He went on later to paint our Harvard professors.
GUEST: Oh, really?
APPRAISER: Yeah. And Harry van der Weyden also speaks to sort of classic Barbizon style, which was what Bostonians were collecting before anyone in the United States was. So these are terrific family pieces, lovely, in very good condition. This is painted on wood, and this on canvas. The Gaugengigl I would estimate between $5,000 and $7,000. And the Harry van der Weyden between $3,000 and $5,000.
