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In TownBy: Rebecca LoveridgeTrash or Treasure? |
Dust off that antique china and pull the old paintings out of storage. You can finally find out if your treasures are worth a fortune at this month’s appraisal fair on Marco Island. Nan Chisholm, former director of fine art at Sotheby’s and currently an appraiser on the hit Antiques Roadshow, will be there to give verbal appraisals. She’ll be working alongside other Roadshow favorites Ken Farmer and Wes Cowan to raise money to build a history museum and living-history theater on Marco Island. We reached Chisholm by phone in New York, where she’s busy with her new independent appraisal and art consulting company.
GSL: You specialize in 19th and 20th century American and European paintings. Expect to see any in Southwest Florida?
NC: I expect to see a lot of American paintings down here. You see things that people have inherited, and they don’t like. Or they can’t see the signature, and they wonder if the things have any value. They just want to clear up all the questions.
GSL: What type of painting is most valuable right now?
NC: An oil on canvas. It takes longer for the artist to produce it and that contributes to it being more valuable.
GSL: What if someone’s painting is too big to bring?
NC: I am happy to look at photos. But stand to the side [when taking the picture] to avoid the glare from the flash. Also, take a close-up of the signature and measure the painting. The size is a factor in what the value will be.
GSL: What’s the most moving thing that’s happened to you on Antiques Roadshow?
NC: At the Philadelphia show, a man brought a painting that his mother had held onto. She was a single mom, and she wasn’t around to find out this thing was worth some money. He started crying at the appraisal. For him it was an emotional thing of having to grow up with this picture and always loving it, and then having it validated.
GSL: Advice for aspiring art collectors?
NC: The best advice is to always buy what you love, because you never can predict what is going to happen with the market. That’s the most important thing. I was wandering around Art Basel [in Miami], and I came across two pictures by this German artist. I found them completely charming. I bought two. I don’t think they’ll ever be worth anything, but I fell in love with them. I won’t care 10 years from now if she’s still an artist, because I’ll still like them.
The Marco Island Historical Society hosts the Spring Appraisal Faire at the Marco Island Civil Air Patrol Hangar on March 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $10 per item for MIHS members and $15 for the general public. Each person is limited to three items. (239) 389-6447.
—Rebecca Loveridge
GSL: You specialize in 19th and 20th century American and European paintings. Expect to see any in Southwest Florida?
NC: I expect to see a lot of American paintings down here. You see things that people have inherited, and they don’t like. Or they can’t see the signature, and they wonder if the things have any value. They just want to clear up all the questions.
GSL: What type of painting is most valuable right now?
NC: An oil on canvas. It takes longer for the artist to produce it and that contributes to it being more valuable.
GSL: What if someone’s painting is too big to bring?
NC: I am happy to look at photos. But stand to the side [when taking the picture] to avoid the glare from the flash. Also, take a close-up of the signature and measure the painting. The size is a factor in what the value will be.
GSL: What’s the most moving thing that’s happened to you on Antiques Roadshow?
NC: At the Philadelphia show, a man brought a painting that his mother had held onto. She was a single mom, and she wasn’t around to find out this thing was worth some money. He started crying at the appraisal. For him it was an emotional thing of having to grow up with this picture and always loving it, and then having it validated.
GSL: Advice for aspiring art collectors?
NC: The best advice is to always buy what you love, because you never can predict what is going to happen with the market. That’s the most important thing. I was wandering around Art Basel [in Miami], and I came across two pictures by this German artist. I found them completely charming. I bought two. I don’t think they’ll ever be worth anything, but I fell in love with them. I won’t care 10 years from now if she’s still an artist, because I’ll still like them.
The Marco Island Historical Society hosts the Spring Appraisal Faire at the Marco Island Civil Air Patrol Hangar on March 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $10 per item for MIHS members and $15 for the general public. Each person is limited to three items. (239) 389-6447.
—Rebecca Loveridge
