Edmund H. Osthaus Watercolor, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
This has been in the family. My great-grandmother knew that I liked the painting, and on her passing, I received it.
APPRAISER:
Do you know which, what kind of dog this is?
GUEST:
English pointers.
APPRAISER:
What about the artist, do you know anything about the artist?
GUEST:
Only that he was from Germany.
APPRAISER:
Edmund Henry Osthaus, I believe.
GUEST:
Yes, it's a German name.
APPRAISER:
That's right.
GUEST:
And hard to pronounce.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Born in Germany in 1858, and studied at the academy there. in Dusseldorf. In fact he moved to the United States, to Ohio, and became the principal at the academy in Toledo. The Academy of Arts. I believe there's still quite a lot of his work there, in fact. Then he retired in 1893, which coincided with a big upsurge of interest in his work. He was a very successful painter at that point, and his work was being commissioned by families like the Vanderbilts and the Morgan family. So this is a very characteristic work by him. Wonderful attention to the anatomy, very dynamic poses that they have. You only wonder what's going on on this side of the painting, what they're looking at so intently. It's of course, a watercolor. He did oil paintings, too. The colors are still very fresh, which is great, given that the painting is probably painted circa 1910, let's say. So for a painting of that age really to have such vibrant color is a good thing and rare. Have you ever given any thought as to what the value of it might be?
GUEST:
I have no idea. Be nice to know the value for insurance reasons.
APPRAISER:
Right. I probably wouldn't want to insure it for much less than $50,000.
GUEST:
$50,000.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Wonderful. My wife would say sell it, but I think it would be something we need to discuss.
APPRAISER:
You're quite attached.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Of course, one of the wonderful things about it is one dog good, two dogs better, three dogs best.
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