GUEST: These are two paintings by Mary Hackett, an artist from Provincetown on Cape Cod. I was visiting there in 1980 with my husband, who comes from there. Went to an art opening and I fell in love with the painting on, over by you, but I couldn't afford it, so I negotiated with Mary Hackett's grandson, who negotiated with his grandmother, and she agreed to sell it to me for $300 instead of $500. She was really pleased that I liked it so much, and she invited me to visit her, and later on, she said to me, "Well, I'd like you to go up to the attic and pick out another painting." There were quite a few there, but I was struck by this one because it was quite striking. Didn't know at the time, but it turned out it was a, a portrait of her. She varnished it and let me have it.
APPRAISER: Mary Hackett was born in 1906 in New York City.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: She grew up in New York City, never had any formal art training, and eventually ended up in Provincetown in about 1930 or so, and spent most of her life there, until she passed away in 1989. And we're going to turn this one around, because I find it...
GUEST (chuckles): Yes!
APPRAISER: ...so interesting on the comments behind here.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: There's your price, the $500. And she said this is The Guiding Light. Mm-hmm. "Pernicious, addictive 3 p.m. soap opera."
GUEST (laughs): Yes.
APPRAISER: And she was in St. Augustine at the time, in the winter of 1980. Over here, she has, "The painting seen in the mirror," the title of which is The Partly Open Door, "was rejected by the St. Augustine Art Association."
GUEST (laughs): I...
APPRAISER: That painting in the mirror is right here.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: Of the partly open door. The Provincetown Art Association, it was really a sophisticated group of artists.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And she was a part of that community, and her appreciation is followed mostly by people in that area. The self-portrait, she's entitled it Madonna of the Pigsty.
GUEST: I know. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Both paintings are oil on artist board.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Although there's no date on this one, her self-portrait, I would date it around the same time as this one, '70s, early '80s.
GUEST: Huh, uh-huh.
APPRAISER: Can we turn this one over?
GUEST: Voilà.
APPRAISER: And this painting is of...
GUEST (chuckles): Mud Flats-- I'm told that this is a portrait of Mary's sister, whose name I do not know.
APPRAISER: These are the ones that come to market more often because this is more typical of her body of work.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: We would put a retail value on this somewhere in the $3,500 to $4,000 area.
GUEST: Oh, wow! I am very surprised, that's great.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: Well, you get a bonus painting.
APPRAISER: You get a bonus painting.
GUEST: You get, uh, "The Partly Open Door" in it.
APPRAISER: Now, the, the self-portrait with the painting of her sister on the back...
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: We're going to put that in the same value, $3,500 to $4,000 retail.
GUEST: Really? Okay. Yeah, well, let's look at that one again.
APPRAISER: Yeah, let's look at it again.
GUEST Yeah, I don't want to leave us on Mud Flats. (laughing): I didn't expect to be surprised and I am, so thank you.
