Grant Wood Drawing, Lithograph & Trunk
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GUEST:
They're items that came through Grant Wood's family, through his sister, Nan Wood Graham.
APPRAISER:
Grant Wood was born in 1891, passed in 1942, and he is known and loved for his depictions of Parson Weems' Fable and American Gothic and mostly as a painter and printmaker, arguably. The first item, the drawing... It's entitled The Pulse February. It's an ink on paper. The artist's monogrammed signature is here. Now, the date says '10.
GUEST:
Grant Wood, when he was in high school, established his monogram with the "GDW '10" to show that he was from the class of 1910. The work itself is dated, we know, from the stamp on the back. This was stamped by the principal in 1908 with permission to publish for the cover of The Pulse, the Washington High School literary publication.
APPRAISER:
Even as a young man, his draftsmanship and style, it's really very evident. It's very interesting. I've not seen one that early. Item number two. This is called Tame Flowers. It's one of a series of four color lithographs executed in 1939 in an edition of 250. You mentioned something interesting about this version of Tame Flowers.
GUEST:
Grant Wood's sister, Nan Wood Graham, and her husband, Ed, tinted most of the lithographs. Grant Wood himself tinted an example of each of those four lithographs, and those are what Nan kept and what came to me.
APPRAISER:
In terms of a fair market value, our auction estimate for the drawing would be $10,000 to $15,000. The lithograph is interesting because, as you say, it's one that Grant had hand-colored. Presuming that we can show that to be certain, we would probably estimate this single print $3,000 to $5,000 by itself. The trunk is one of the more interesting items.
GUEST:
The trunk came with Grant Wood's family when they came to Iowa from Virginia by stagecoach. When his family left the farm after his father died in 1910, his maiden aunt gave him this trunk, which he kept with him for the rest of his life. And Nan kept that after his death, and then gave to me.
APPRAISER:
It is, I am told, a 19th century American trunk. In and of itself, without the connection to Grant Wood, its fair market value would be under $100. The value lies with the connection to Grant Wood. If properly advertised in an auction centered around Grant Wood, his property, regionalist themes, the trunk, we feel, could bring $1,000, $2,000, possibly more. Thank you so much for bringing them in.
It was really a treat to see them.
GUEST:
And thank you so much for the information.
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