Early-20th-Century Lucian Bernhard Original Art
Watch
GUEST:
Well, it's by an artist by the name of Lucian Bernhard. When I graduated art school-- I'm from Manhattan-- I worked for his son Carl Bernhard. Towards the end of working for him, I had done some personal favors for Lucian Bernhard, and who wanted to pay me monetarily, and I did not want to accept that. In turn, he said, "Here, take this portfolio of things and enjoy." He also wanted to give me some of his paintings, and foolishly, I, I did not accept that, but I accepted this.
APPRAISER:
These are the original artworks. His influence on graphic design and on typography is, is almost undefinable. He personally designed 36 different typefaces.
GUEST:
I didn't know that.
APPRAISER:
Lucian Bernhard began his poster career in Germany. He created something called the object poster, where, when he was making an advertisement, he chose only to illustrate that object. And in fact, we have a copy of his first object poster. It's for Priester matches, this is...
GUEST:
That's his first?
APPRAISER:
It's his first object poster, done in 1906.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And it seems so obvious to us that on an advertisement for matches, you illustrate the matches. But in 1906, which was at the heart of the Art Nouveau movement, to do something so simply, so plainly, so without ornament, was absolutely unheard-of and revolutionary. In 1923, he came to America, and you began working for his son in what year?
GUEST:
In the '60s, when I graduated art school.
APPRAISER:
And he gave you these original works of art, some of which are maquettes for posters.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
They're the studies for posters. We have here Excelsior Tires.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Which is a gouache. You can see his signature in the lower left-hand corner. We also have, close to you, a study for a poster for Bleichert Conveyors. Again, his signature is visible in the upper left-hand corner here. You also have a watercolor here for Manoli Cigarettes, which is another one of his big clients, and then we have... this would probably be from his German era, because it's a German company. Rahn Biscuits. Not only is it a gouache, but if you look very closely, you will see that it's also a collage, that he cut and pasted certain elements onto the background.
GUEST:
I never noticed that.
APPRAISER:
The top here of the coffee pitcher has been pasted on. His original artwork rarely comes on the market at all. His posters come on the market every now and again and sell for a fairly pricey sum, but the posters are obviously much larger. The worst-case scenario, an auction estimate for the group that I would be very comfortable thinking they would sell...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...would be $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
Whoa! Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, that's the worst-case scenario. The best-case scenario, which is if they are as rare and as exciting and as important as I believe them to be, I can see $20,000 to $30,000. Now, when you said you made a mistake not taking his paintings, you don't realize what a big mistake you made.
GUEST:
Now I do. (laughs)
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
