Maurice Braun Landscape Oil, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
I had gone to an estate sale, which I had previewed online. And I'd seen in one of the pictures a picture in, in the distance leaning against a wall, on the floor. And I thought, "That's kind of neat." So when I got there, I made sure I was first in line, and I went right directly to it. Didn't have a clue who it was.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
But I knew I loved it.
APPRAISER:
And do you remember what you paid for it?
GUEST:
I paid $40 for it.
APPRAISER:
$40, okay. And how long ago was that now?
GUEST:
Probably four, five years.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And the artist is, of course...
GUEST:
Maurice Braun.
APPRAISER:
Maurice Braun-- he's very much associated with Southern California.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He was born in Hungary, originally.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
And then moved at a young age to New York, where he studied art. Studied with William Merritt Chase, who was a major artist and teacher at that time. But the big year for him was 1909, and that's when he moved to San Diego. And he fell in love with the landscape, and he fell in love with the intensity of the light there, and responded to it. He was very interested in esoteric philosophies.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He was interested in things like theosophy and transcendentalism. And so he believed in the unity of man and nature. And so when he was painting, that was really an expression of that. So, this is an, an oil paint on canvas.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
In terms of when it was done, it's a little hard to say, but he moved there in 1909, 1910. He died in the 1940s, so I think it's fair to assume it was done... Before... '20s, '30s. It has a number of things going for it. It's just a really nice painting.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, yeah.
APPRAISER:
It's a really nice example by him. The other two things are, it's in the original frame, and collectors love that. And finally, what I love to see in a painting is, it's really, really dirty.
GUEST:
Yes, it is, I'm sorry.
APPRAISER:
Now, that might... No, no, no, no need to apologize. That's a good thing in our world. So that's, that's actually a very good thing. Now, there's a very strong market for Californian Impressionism, and particularly Southern Californian Impressionism. He also worked on the East Coast. You don't get so much at auction for those works. It's really this kind of thing that people want. And although the title on the back is fairly generic-- "The Road to the Hills," that could be anywhere-- we know that this is Southern California. So you bought it for $40.
GUEST:
Bought it for $40.
APPRAISER:
Would you be surprised if I told it was worth at auction $10,000 to $15,000?
GUEST:
That's, that would be awesome, yeah.
APPRAISER:
It's a pretty good return, I think.
GUEST:
It is, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Isn't it?
GUEST:
Pretty good return on your money.
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