'Antiques Roadshow' guest struggles to speak after expert revealed value of her mother's painting
The relationship between a parent and a child is very special, and whether it's memories or artifacts that a mother leaves behind, both are priceless for a daughter. "Antiques Roadshow" may be a show where artifacts and rare objects get high appraisals, but it becomes more relatable when people express their emotions attached to an item. In one such episode, the show's expert, Susan Kime, came across a unique piece of art from the controversial artist, Loren Mozley. Despite knowing its provenance, the guest seemingly had no idea that her "scary looking painting" could be worth over $50,000. When she did find out how precious the painting from her mother was, she could hardly speak.
In the episode of the PBS show, the guest shared that the painting once belonged to her mother, and for most of her life, the owner was scared of it. "This painting is by an artist, Loren Mozley. And it's supposed to be aspen trees, is what it says. To me, it doesn't look like aspen trees, but that's okay," she mentioned to begin with. She further explained that she knew the artist went to the UT School of Arts, but she had no idea where the artist was from. When asked how she got the painting, the guest revealed that her mother got it a long time ago. It was my mother's and she loved the painting. I was always scared of it. It's just a scary-looking forest. I've grown to love it now that it hangs in my house," she told Kime.
Taking over, the appraiser confirmed that the piece was from Mozley. Noting the details of the painting, she explained that the medium was oil on canvas board, and it was of the aspens as mentioned in the title on the back. "Loren Mozley was born in Illinois in 1905 and then moved to New Mexico in 1906. And he became known as a Southwest artist. He spent time in Paris studying, went to New York, and was heavily influenced by artists Andrew Dasburg and John Marin," Kime said.
She further added that in 1938, Loren Mozley became one of the founders of the University of Texas Fine Arts Department. "And there was some controversy because he and his partner wanted to use live models as nudes. So there was a lot of hoopla surrounding that," Kime mentioned to shed some light on the artist's background.
She then went on to add that the painting was created in 1947 and was exhibited at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Exhibition of Western Artists in 1948. "It's just a classic example of this Modernist style with the cubism," Kime noted. Coming to the appraisal, the expert seemed confident that the painting could be worth good money. "A painting like this, with the great provenance and the exhibition history, I would imagine to sell at auction anywhere between $30,000 and $50,000," she told the guest, who couldn't believe her ears. "No! Really?" the guest asked in disbelief. When the appraiser confirmed the value, the guest was at a complete loss for words. "Oh, my goodness. Everybody says that. G... wow," she stuttered.
In the end, Kime told the guest that the painting was one of the nicest things she had come across on the show, and she was grateful to see it. "Oh, that makes me feel really good," the owner of the painting said in the end.
