Joan Miró Etching
Watch
GUEST:
My father gave it to me on my first birthday, and it's been in my room ever since, next to my bed, wherever I've lived. And he died three years later, so I actually never found out too much more about it. So I don't know if it's real or not.
APPRAISER:
The artist, as I'm sure you already know, is Joan Miró. It's signed right down here in pencil, and it's also a numbered edition. It's numbered over here on the lower left, 37 of 60.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
This is right as rain. It's etching and aquatint. Miró was Spanish. He moved to Paris right around 1920. And it was the Paris of Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway. Art and music and literature and collectors were all coming together, and you see a resurgence of what's called Livres d'Artiste, or "artist's books." And these are books where an author and an artist would really collaborate to create something that was meant to be more integral. It wasn't just a matter of an artist illustrating a book that he'd read. And this is actually one of 23 images that Miró made for a series called, The Ring of Dawn, by the poet RenÈ Crevel. The poet died in '35. This series wasn't actually published until '57. If you were to put this up at auction today, you could expect it to bring $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
Wow. That's a nice first birthday present.
APPRAISER:
It is indeed.
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.
