Mary Elizabeth Hutchinson Portrait
Watch
GUEST:
Lola was my husband's aunt, and she lived in Manhattan her whole life. And she grew up there. And in the '20s she worked at a nightclub, and she just had a really exciting life, and that's how this painting came about.
APPRAISER:
Who's the artist of the painting?
GUEST:
The artist is Mary Elizabeth Hutchinson. I know that she was from Atlanta. She painted in New York in the '30s. And I know that she had a retrospective at the Atlanta Art Museum probably about ten years ago. But that's about all I really know about her.
APPRAISER:
And you know that there was a relationship between her and Lola.
GUEST:
Yes-- Lola used to tell me every time she sat for her for this portrait, Mary would pursue her and her affections. And Lola liked Mary a lot and loved the painting, but she wasn't quite prepared to go that far for a sitting.
APPRAISER:
Well, with all that we know about artists, we know there's often relationships that develop between artists and their sitters. But it's pretty clear that the artist admired Lola a great deal, and she painted her as a very beautiful woman. But you have photographs that the artist also took of Lola... Yes. ...which show that she was indeed a stunningly beautiful young woman.
GUEST:
She was very beautiful. She was a cigarette girl at the Copa in New York, and she also was married to the manager of the Copa. And she told me that that's how she met a lot of these people, you know, artists and musicians, and kind of how she gained relationships with them.
APPRAISER:
Well, she represents a whole era in New York, in that sort of glamorous period of the '20s and the '30s, when people did go to nightclubs, dress up. Being a cigarette girl was a profession. As far as the artist is concerned, people who watch the show regularly might know that I have kind of a particular interest in women artists. And many of them are quite little known today, unfortunately. We're trying to rectify that. There are two auction records I was able to find for her. One is a painting that's a portrait rather like this, which sold for $4,800 a couple of years ago. So I would say that, given her reputation being as small as it is at this point, we can still say an auction estimate of between $4,000 and $6,000 on this picture.
GUEST:
Well, thank you so much.
APPRAISER:
Thanks for bringing it.
GUEST:
Yep, I think Lola would be thrilled.
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.
