GUEST: This is a portrait that was of my, my grandmother. Her name was Clara Galassi. She was in movies in Europe. And her stage name was Dolly Grey. This was painted in Paris, I think, in the 1920s. The artist is Tade Styka.
APPRAISER: How did she know the artist?
GUEST: He just painted a lot of famous actors and actresses of the day, and writers... uh... politicians. I don't know exactly how they met. I think they met in Paris.
APPRAISER: Do you know any of the films that she starred in?
GUEST: I have a list of the seven or eight, but the few that come to mind are "Maratona," "Le Dolomiti" was a second one, and then "Metropolis" was a third one, I remember.
APPRAISER: And that's probably around the age where she appears to be in this painting.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: In her 20s.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Most likely.
GUEST: She had just gotten married to my grandfather, and he was an engineer working for the Marconi House in Paris. And so that's why they had been there for a time in Paris. And my mother was born in Paris.
APPRAISER: And what year was your mother born?
GUEST: I think 1925? About the time that she was still making movies.
APPRAISER: That's a wonderful story and...
GUEST: It is.
APPRAISER: It's fantastic that your grandmother was a silent film star.
GUEST: Yes. I knew her briefly when I was a child, growing up. I'm not sure the year she died. It was after 1954. Probably 1958.
APPRAISER: It is signed lower left, "Tade Styka." He was a Polish artist, born in Poland.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: In 1889. And he was born into a family of artists. His father was Jan Styka. His brother was Adam Styka. The father, Jan Styka, was very well-known for his portraiture, as well. He was also someone who lived and worked in France. So his son also started studying in, in France. He was working in Europe a lot, and then he, eventually, he emigrated to the United States. He did probably paint this in Paris, I, I believe. It's not... it doesn't say Paris anywhere.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: But she was starring in a lot of movies that were...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ....you know, German-made, and, you know...
GUEST: German, and in Paris, yeah.
APPRAISER: Yeah. I just fell in love with this painting as soon as I saw it. The expressiveness in her face. The way he depicts her hair falling around. It brings out her, her beauty here. Polish art is growing in value.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And especially, this is kind of a Polish art dynasty, if you will.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: With the father and the two sons.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: So the most recent high auction records for paintings by Tade Styka have been in Poland.
GUEST: Oh, I see.
APPRAISER: And his real name is Tadeusz Styka. The painting itself is oil on board. I would feel very comfortable putting an auction estimate of $12,000 to $18,000 on the painting.
GUEST: Oh, okay, wonderful.
APPRAISER: If you were going to insure this painting...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: I would say to insure it for around $30,000.
GUEST: I see, okay.
