1955 Fernando Amorsolo Oil Paintings
Watch
GUEST:
I got them through my father-in-law. My wife and I inherited them. When he was eight years old, he went to the Philippines, uh, with his family. They were mining engineers.
APPRAISER:
And approximately when would that have been?
GUEST:
This would have been mid '30s.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
The war came along, and all the civilians were taken into an inter... internment camp, Santo Tomas in, uh, Manila. He went into the internment camp at age 15. He and the rest of the family were there. He and his sister, mother, father. Everyone was liberated when the Americans came in. Uh, he was 19, it was on... actually on his birthday. Some of the family decided to, to go back eventually and come back to the United States. And his mother stayed on in the Philippines for a number of years. When it... she felt it was time to come back, apparently she collected
pieces that made her feel like what she saw.
APPRAISER:
Sure.
GUEST:
She enjoyed living there.
APPRAISER:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
That's my understanding. So I see both of these paintings are dated 1955.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So she would have bought them probably approximately around then, shortly after the war. And she would have still been living there
in '55. Correct?
GUEST:
Right, right, and she, she came back late '50s, early '60s.
APPRAISER:
What you brought are two oil paintings, oil on board.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
They are by an artist named Fernando Amorsolo, a Filipino artist, a very well-known artist of the 20th century. You brought me a smaller example here, which is a genre subject that he favored, and he produced a wide number of examples with these subjects.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Everyday life. This is a laundress. While it's not titled, that subject was very popular for him.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
The other and larger is a harvesting subject. So, a wonderful, uh, impressionist landscape depicting figures harvesting, probably, the
rice harvest. And this was yet another good example that he produced over and over and over. A lot of American soldiers came back with his work. That's why so many surfaced here in the States and in Europe, because they were, in some sense, treated as souvenirs to bring back. And they were a great representation of everyday life in the Philippines. Amorsolo was often referred to as "the Grand Old Man of Philippine art." He was born in 1892. He passed in 1972. For the bulk of his career, he was very prolific.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
He taught at the University of the Philippines. He worked for the Bureau of Public Works. At the beginning of his career and middle part of his career, he was more highly regarded, probably, by outsiders or Europeans...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
...or Americans. More recently, especially in the last ten years, we've seen a big change in the market for his work.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
There's been this repatriation of Filipino artists and their work. And in the case of Amorsolo, he was the first sort of national painter of the Philippines. He was honored with that posthumously. Collectors consider him to have captured sort of the essence or the soul of the Philippines with his subjects.
GUEST:
Hmm.
APPRAISER:
Nowadays, his work is very sought after. Do you know how much she paid for the works?
GUEST:
I have not a clue.
APPRAISER:
How many paintings did she collect?
GUEST:
I think at least ten pieces.
APPRAISER:
Were they distributed among family members or just... did they... most of them pass to you?
GUEST:
Most of them passed to us.
APPRAISER:
Okay. For both of the paintings together, I would suggest a conservative auction estimate of $120,000 to $180,000.
GUEST : Hmm. That's a bit more than I was expecting. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
The smaller example, I would estimate in the range of $40,000 to $60,000.
GUEST:
I am very surprised. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
The larger harvest scene, I would put an auction estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.
GUEST : Okay.
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.
