'Antiques Roadshow' guest left in disbelief after expert revealed the value of her housewarming gift

Although "Antiques Roadshow" is known to surprise guests with appraisals for items that are beyond their estimates, some people just find it hard to process the information. One such guest realized she had the most generous housewarming gift of all time when her 1937 Clyfford Still oil painting was valued at $500,000. The owner, who wasn't expecting to get a big appraisal, was stunned by the show's expert, Alasdair Nichol, and was in disbelief, even though it was a conservative estimate.

The guest shared that her husband, who got the painting, was Still's student at the university. "My husband was a student at Washington State University, and he had an art professor by the name of Clyfford Still. Then, as the years went by, he went on to get his doctorate and came back to Washington State. And the chairman of his department-- they owned the painting-- they gave it to us as a housewarming," she mentioned. Nichol was surprised to learn that the painting was a gift, given the significance of the artist. "Good heavens! And what do you know about Clyfford Still? Do you, did you follow his subsequent career?" he asked the guest. The owner said they followed him for a bit and all they knew was that he moved back east and became a Guggenheim protégé." The appraiser confirmed that what they heard was right.

He then went on to examine the painting that was signed and dated "Clyfford 37." He further noted that the artist left a note at the back of the painting, which read, "To my friends the Whiffens."

Coming to the subject of the painting, the guest explained that it was the Grand Coulee, during the construction of the dam. "It's a big dam in the state of Washington," she said. The expert explained that the dam was near Spokane, which is where the artist grew up, studied, and graduated from. "He's best known as, really, one of the founders of the Abstract Expressionist movement. He and Rothko and Franz Kline and de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. And Mark Rothko introduced him to Peggy Guggenheim, who was responsible for his first one-man show in New York," he told the guest. 

He further noted that the painting was an early work of the artist, from 1937, when he was still doing figurative work. "Now, around about 1938 to 1942, he started to make that transition from figurative, representational work to more abstract art. And amongst the other artists, such as Kline and de Kooning, he was really the first to do that. He was ahead of them. They were still working in a figurative manner into the '40s. So he was a little ahead of the curve," he explained. 

When the guest told him that she was getting it appraised for insurance purposes, the expert went on to share an estimate. "Well, I feel that, given the importance of the artist, given the importance of this painting, I believe that this shouldn't be insured for anything less than half a million dollars," he said. This left the guest in disbelief as she said, "Really? (laughing)" The appraiser confirmed and explained that one of Still's paintings, which he made in 1947, went for $21 million a few years ago at the time. "Oh, really?" the guest responded in further disbelief. 

To add to her delight, Nichols repeated that he was being conservative with the value, which meant the painting could fetch more if it came up for auction. "It's a magnificent painting in its own right. And you can see the Expressionist palette already in the way that he applies the paint. And I have to say, in all my years on the Roadshow, it's probably the most exciting find I've had," he said in the end.