GUEST: My cousin from England sent it to me and she had got it from her mother and her mother got it as a gift from the artist.

APPRAISER: And besides the painting, you brought in a letter signed by the artist and from the artist dedicating the painting to your great-aunt, or...?

GUEST: Great-aunt, uh-huh. She was a painter, and she exhibited in France and he liked her painting and said, "I'll trade you one of mine for this one of yours," and he did, and the letter is saying he was sending it over.

APPRAISER: The letter is dated 1905 and is discussing the gift to her of this painting that he did in the south of France. The artist is Fritz Thaulow. He's a Norwegian painter, probably one of the best-known of the Norwegian artists of the late 19th century. He was a great friend of Monet's and Rodin's, a great admirer of the French realist painter Bastien-Lepage and also of Whistler. This is done in 1905, and the artist dies in 1906. In the lower left-hand side, you have the inscription "To Emily Lang"-- I gather your great-aunt-- so that's kind of interesting as well that it was dedicated to her personally because at this time in his career, he was very well known. He was probably the best of the Norwegian artists other than Munch. This painting has a lot of the quality of Whistler, this sort of tonality, the evening light in this small village in the south of France. It's in its original frame. It seems to be in good condition. It hasn't been damaged. And I would think that the painting would be about $18,000, maybe $20,000 today. This is a nice little souvenir from your aunt.

GUEST: Wow, wow! I'm going to call her tonight and tell her.

APPRAISER; She's still in England?

GUEST: She's still in England. She's a sharp lady still, so she'll be excited.