Sunday, June 13, 2010

Antiques Road Show- San Diego

You stand in long lines. (but it's not so bad when you can look at Mr. Happy).

You could eat your lunch. (while sitting in your own form of comfortable transportation)

Another form of transportation.

Some people were lugging big, heavy things.

Another place to sit while waiting- or to hold your purse.

The best seat in the house- from Hearst's Castle- or so she says. She brought it all the way from San Luis Obispo. (about a 3 or 4 hour drive)

This is what I brought. An early California painting by E.D. Horsky (1884-1965). He was famous for his California landscape paintings but more famous for his paintings of Native Americans. If it had been one of them it would have been worth more. This one is worth about $1200, which I already knew. The appraiser looked it up on her computer just like I did at home. I thought she might have some new insights or some new information that it was worth a fortune. I waited all that time in line to find out what I already knew! 
I bought this at a garage sale about 30 years ago and probably didn't pay more than $25.  I didn't know at the time that it was by a recognized artist. It needs a new frame.

You could only bring two things to be appraised so this is my second masterpiece. I bought this in Paris about 40 yrs. ago and probably didn't pay much for it because the candle holders have been cut off. I don't know why I bought it. It must have been heavy to lug home...as it was while standing in line. It is by a recognized sculptor named C. Bonnefond. I thought it might be worth something even though it wasn't all there but, alas, the appraiser said it might be a good place to display necklaces.

Nancy had the winner- an autographed Bob Dylan book worth from $1200- 1500.
She bought it at a garage sale for ONE DOLLAR.
She had never been able to find out what it was worth until now.
Her story about it is worth another post, which she'll do tomorrow.

Afterwards, we had an early dinner overlooking the ocean.

Then we walked around outside by the bay. This is a gigantic statue of that famous WW2 photo. The people standing on the side are right next to it. That's how big it is!  In the background is the USS Midway complete with airplanes and helicopters on it's deck. You can take tours of it. We didn't do it this time but will someday soon.

Then we watched tourists getting their pictures taken with statues of G.I.s who are listening to a performance by Bob Hope. His statue is in the foreground. It's complete with a recording of the performance. 

Finally we walked around looking at the boats in the harbor. 
USS Midway...big deal! Here's one named Nancy.

The end of a tiring but fun day. Thanks, Diane for giving us the tickets to the Roadshow.

7 comments:

Blue Heron said...

fun!

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

You two are getting rich! I like the return on investment on both pieces: the painting and the autographed book. Nice going. Do you think you'll be on the show?

Christine H. said...

I have never known anyone who has personally attended Antiques Roadshow. It sounds like a lot of fun.

L. D. said...

That had to be fun. I think your sculpture looks very valuable. It is suppose to come to Des Moines this summer but I guess I will pass on it. I would have wondered why I didn't take something else if I ended up skunked. Great photos!!!

Vivian Swift said...

Antiques Roadshow started to air about nine months after I left Christie's auction house. I think it's raised the understanding of how value relates to objects, that there is a rational, quantifiable way to assign a price to an object.

When I worked at Christie's there was a lot of misunderstanding about that. When Christie's sold a Van Gogh painting for $74million people were outraged! I got some flack about that (in certain social situations) as if I worked at AIG and had conned the American public out of their hard-earned tax dollars. Paying millions of dollars for paintings is how rich people get rid of all that money -- otherwise, what can they possibly spend it on? (Really, I want to know. No one can possibly spend a billion dollars in one lifetime.)

I learned a lot about human nature when I was appraising "heirlooms". The most vivid lesson was all the times I would give a disappointing dollar amount on a rather unimportant piece of jewelry (unimportant to me, that is -- but I looked at jewlery ALL DAY LONG) and the person would shake his head and say, "No, I think you're wrong." Mind you, I was the expert (a title I was not ashamed to own) and they were the owners of a crappy Australian sapphire bracelet. After this happened a few times I started to ask, "Really? Why do you think I'm wrong?" The answer was always: "I just have a feeling it's worth more."

This is what I learned: That "feeling"? It's not a feeling. It's a WISH. And it's important to know the difference.

Jane LaFazio said...

still waiting for the post on the bob dylan autographed book! :-)

Peter Skyhouse said...

i found you this AM and wanted you to know that i too have a Horsky painting. i have had it for for 30 years and will remain in our family as i have now passed it on to my son. I love this painting and i am happy for you. I think this is a great artist and much unappreciated.

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