1887 Seth Whipple Oil Painting
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GUEST:
It's been in my husband's family for… since it was painted. My husband's great-grandfather owned Parker Transport Company, which this is the Anna Smith. It's a tug, and ah…
APPRAISER:
A sailing tug, which is cool.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Yeah!
GUEST:
The artist, he was a Great Lakes artist, and he was a Michigan native. This is Lake Superior. My husband has adored this painting since he saw it, so his grandmother left it to him because she said he would stare at it for hours.
APPRAISER:
Well, there's a lot to look at. It's a Michigan born and raised artist--
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Seth Whipple, born in 1855 and died in 1901, and this was painted in 1887. I love the wonderful low horizon line…
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
I love the power of the tugboat coming forward, the drama in the sky, all that to me is captivating. And I even see, you know, there's maybe a little romantic symbolism here. So you've got the power vessel…
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
…With the sails pulling a sailing vessel in 1887. Within the distance, a power ship coming up. So it really was the advent of a time when the sailing vessel was becoming passé and the steamship was really the mode of transportation. Tell me about the actual company that your family was… husband's family was involved with, or…
GUEST:
Well, a family member built the Anna Smith.
APPRAISER:
Yep.
GUEST:
And apparently in 1898, it blew up, went down, a person was killed.
APPRAISER:
Oh, that's awful.
GUEST:
The story goes. Because it needs to be restored—
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
--and brightened up, I've never really looked at it until one day, I thought, "What is the big deal with my husband and the painting?"
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
And so I looked at it for a long time, and I saw the captain on the tug and Detroit in the background and realized how intricate and beautiful it is, and…
APPRAISER:
You can almost feel the wind.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
I mean, you can see the wind in all the sails just beautifully.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
You can see the wind blowing the steam, the smoke off to the side. You can see the white caps and all the turbulence in the water. It even has seagulls that are flying around…
GUEST:
I know!
APPRAISER:
…with a beautiful lighthouse. You mentioned the condition.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
What's wrong with the condition?
GUEST:
Well, it needs to be brightened up.
APPRAISER:
It's entirely as-is, which is what we love as appraisers.
GUEST:
(laughing) Right.
APPRAISER:
Nothing's been done to this. There's a pretty sizeable hole. You want to wave to the viewers?
GUEST:
Yeah, there's a little hole right here.
APPRAISER:
There we go. (laughing) Funnily enough, that hole does not have a significant impact negatively on the value.
GUEST:
Oh, I'm so glad.
APPRAISER:
It's not in a pivotal part, it's not in the bow of the ship or the stern of the ship, it's not in where the action is. The painting could use a thorough cleaning...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...And could use that hole being fixed.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
All very doable. As is, in this condition, the auction value would be somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow! That is awesome.
APPRAISER:
I really, really enjoy this picture, and restored correctly, it could be as much as $20,000 when everything is fixed and if it just comes out perfectly.
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