Orville Bulman Oil, ca. 1960
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GUEST:
This was a painting that my grandmother had. I inherited it in 1992. I have a lot of siblings, so, we sort of had to divide up the paintings. And most of my grandma's paintings were sort of c, contemporary artists in the '60s and '70s. But the subject matter were all very traditional, which, I just liked this painting. (laughs) I just thought the subject matter was so wonderful, with the lady riding the zebra.
APPRAISER:
And where did your grandmother live?
GUEST:
She lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, her whole life.
APPRAISER:
And do you know where she got this painting?
GUEST:
I don't. She used to go a lot of different places.
APPRAISER:
It's by an artist named Orville Bulman. And he was from Grand Rapids.
GUEST:
Oh, he was?
APPRAISER:
Michigan-- yeah.
GUET: Oh!
APPRAISER:
So he was from Grand Rapids, and his family was very prosperous. His father was an inventor and invented some sort of process for rolling and cutting twine and paper. So in every grocery store in America, they would have this, so that when you bought something, they could wrap it up in twine or in paper. And he worked for the family company, but his first love was art. He was primarily self-taught as an artist, although he did take classes at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and also at Ox-Bow, which is in Saugatuck, Michigan. He moved to Palm Beach, and he would split his time between Grand Rapids and Palm Beach, and he would travel throughout the South, painting primarily African American subjects and people. And then in 1952, he took a trip to Haiti, and was just sort of fascinated with the culture and the colors and the life there, and so he took several more trips there.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
So this painting was probably painted in Haiti in the late '50s or early '60s. This type of filigree roofing is something very typical of homes in Haiti. And on the back of the canvas, there's a stamp in French...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...which indicates to me that he had purchased the canvas in Haiti. This is very typical of his style. He would usually do these sort of fantastical scenes. This is a very classic example of his paintings. Because of his access, because of his, his wealth, he traveled in a lot of circles. So the Duchess of Windsor had paintings by him.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
Gerald Ford.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
John F. Kennedy. Merriweather Post, who built the Mar-a-Lago.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
She owned several of his works.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
So he was quite a celebrity artist in his day. He's somebody that has always been appreciated, but in recent years, his works have become more desired. This is an oil on canvas painting. In looking at it, there is a little bit of flaking here, and there's a little bit of cracking up here in the sky. So, in the condition that it's in, it might affect the value slightly.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The retail value might be $20,000 to $25,000. And once conserved, you might be able to ask as much as $35,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow. And how much would it cost to have it reconditioned?
APPRAISER:
I think a conservator could clean the painting and consolidate some of the cracking, and touch up of this area there for less than $2,000.
GUEST:
Oh, okay. Okay, thank you.
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