GUEST: My dad served in the Army mapmaking division during World War II. He was stationed in Paris, and he and another group of American soldiers got to visit various artists' studios. Le Corbusier was one, and at the end of the session that they had, the artist said, "Please, help yourself to my drawings and watercolors." So my dad took this piece and another sgraffito card and gifted them to me about ten years ago.
APPRAISER: Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier, was born in Switzerland in 1887 and was a true renaissance character. He was an architect, an urban planner, an artist, and wrote many, many theories about architecture and how people should live.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: And how people should live well. In his artwork, what he strived to do is see the figure as structure, as almost architectural structure. It's a terrific watercolor. And based on the style and your provenance with the piece, I would date it to circa 1940, 1945. At auction, I would value it between $15,000 and $25,000.
GUEST: Wow, that's great.