'Antiques Roadshow' guest says she has 'trouble breathing' after expert revealed the value of her artwork
Not all guests on "Antiques Roadshow" are completely unaware of the value of artifacts and collectibles that they walk in with. Then, there are those who conduct their own research to come up with a number. This hardly makes a difference as experts burst their bubbles too with an appraisal. This is what happened to a guest who brought her father's prized possession, a '1956 Gustave Baumann "Rain in the Mountains" Print' to be appraised by expert Todd Weyman. While the guest had some idea about the piece of art, she was left in deep shock by Weyman, who valued the item at more than $50,000.
In the episode, the guest shared the story of how the print made its way into her family. "My father, uh, bought this sometime in the early to mid-'70s. I was, like, ten. My dad bought this from Gustave Baumann's widow when she came to Colorado State University. She was selling some of his work to raise money, selling from the estate. And this one always stopped him," she shared.
The appraiser noted that it wasn't hard to see why the piece grabbed the attention of the guest's father. The guest added that the artwork was bought for just $125 at the time. "And so he bought it for, like, $125, along with another one, which was, like, aspens in the mountains, or spring in the aspens. It's also-- he also gave that one to me, but this is my favorite," she added.
Weyman then took over to explain the significance of the artwork. "The colors on this are absolutely beautiful. The artist is Gustave Baumann, you know that. He was born in Germany and came over to the States as a child with his family, and was living in the Midwest," he explained. The expert added that Baumann "got to Taos and he thought it was too busy. So a friend persuaded him to move on to Santa Fe. So he gets to Santa Fe and plants himself there, and works in Santa Fe for the next five-plus decades. His imagery has become synonymous with the Southwest. He and the Southwest are so intertwined, and New Mexico."
The appraiser noted that the print of rain in the mountains was particularly amazing as the colors were visible through the light. "And the appreciation for his work has just grown over the past couple of decades, and he is super-hot now. Baumann made the original blocks for this color woodcut in 1926, just about eight years after he arrived in Santa Fe. And this, you can see, of course, is titled Rain in the Mountains. This is from the fourth edition," the expert explained.
The expert noted that despite being the smallest edition, the print had some intense colors. "And what's great about this, too, is the way that the rain is coming down," Weyman said. He then asked the guest if she had any idea of its value. To this, the guest responded with, "I know he's popular, but I thought ten times what my dad bought. You know, so, $1,250 or something, $2,000, something like that." Coming to the appraisal, Weyman told the guest that an insurance figure on the item would be at least $50,000.
This took the guest's breath away as she gasped and struggled to breathe. "Oh my god! That's so much more than I thought! So much more than I thought!" she exclaimed.
In the end, the appraiser noted that it was a phenomenal print, and the guest vowed to do something about the item to keep it safe and sound. "It's always been of value to me, and now I'm going to go to an insurance agent and make sure that I've got it covered," she said. "I feel like I'm having trouble breathing a little bit. Oh, my God," she added.
