1911 Olaf Carl Seltzer Gouache & Watercolor Painting
Watch
GUEST:
It was my father's. It was in our home as I was growing up. My dad had gotten it in, I would say, during the '60s from a friend. My dad was in the leather tanning business.
APPRAISER:
The artist is a fairly well-known Western painter named Olaf Carl Seltzer. He was born in 1877. He was actually Danish-born.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But came to the States at a very young age. His father had died, and he and his mother traveled to New York, and took the Transcontinental Railroad straight to Montana.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
Which is where he lived out most of his career.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
He was mostly a self-trained painter. This is a gouache and watercolor on a paperboard. It was a common medium for a lot of artists who got their start in illustration work. Seltzer, early in his career, was illustrating for some publications in New York. He worked in this medium throughout his career. This particular painting has a lot of things going for it as far as Seltzer's work is concerned. First of all, it's large. It's very well done. It's a completely finished work. Many of his works were not as finished as this example is. And, thirdly, it's very dynamic.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, right.
APPRAISER:
A lot of his subjects were static. The last thing I would note is that the figure in the foreground appears to be a Native American, which was his favored subject. Although I have not seen him depicting Native Americans in this context before. It's just an unusual subject for him, and compelling, I think. It's also signed here in the lower left, and dated clearly 1911, which would be earlier in his career, but right when he was hitting his stride during his most mature period of work. An example in this size, for a fair market value and auction value, I would place a conservative estimate of $15,000 to $25,000 on it.
GUEST:
Okay, great. That's great, thank you.
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.
