'Antiques Roadshow' guest stunned after hearing the value of artwork made by his famous dad

"Antiques Roadshow" guests usually find valuable artifacts lying around in the house or in the attic, and one guest came across that in his father's closet. Luckily for him, his father was Demetrios Jameson, a renowned artist of his time. While the guest shared that the painting was made by his father as a student, the show's expert, Colleene Fesko, revealed that it was a special piece and "a terrific example of American modernism/surrealism." Not just that, Fesko believed that the artwork was worth a lot of money as well, as she put an insurance estimate of $15,000 on it, leaving the guest delighted.

The guest shared that the painting was done in 1947 when his father was a student at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Hearing this, Fesko pointed out that the guest's father studied with Max Beckmann, who is a larger-than-life German expressionist artist. "You can really see he was picking up on the things that he was taught by the master," Fesko added. The guest also confirmed that his father had a very high regard for Beckmann. He then went on to share a little about the history of the artwork. "This painting used to hang in my grandmother's house. The only thing is, I keep waiting for her to turn around, and I've been waiting for about 60 years for her to turn around," he said, pointing to the subject of the painting. "That's one of the reasons I picked this painting, other than the fact that I love it, is that we know very little about, you know, the values, or what have you, for this era. There aren't very many like this," he added. 

Fesko then took over to explain the style and the provenance of the artwork. "And so this is an early example of his work. Of all the markets that have remained stable in our very wobbly economy, for American art, the modernist movement and the surrealist movement are very strong and very sought after. And this painting is just a terrific example of American modernism/surrealism," she shared. She then pointed out the unique elements, like a crumpled piece of paper in the corner, an enigmatic figure with red hair and an acidic green skirt.

"Then we have these cracks in the concrete; the broken silo; the crumbling columns. Central casting, wonderful surrealism," she explained before coming to the appraisal. Fesko then went on to share a number that made the guest smile ear-to-ear. "I would insure this one at $15,000," she said. "Oh, wow! Oh, great!" the guest said in response.

In the end, Fesko expressed that Jameson was a very important artist and the guest was a good son as well, as he had preserved his father's early but special artwork.

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