George Gardner Symons "Winter Glow" Oil, ca. 1920
GUEST: This is a painting that belonged to my in-laws, and it hung in their living room for a long time, and we inherited it from them when they passed.
APPRAISER: How long ago did they acquire it?
GUEST: Uh, they bought it in the, I believe, '40s or '50s. And I-I love the image. The-the composition is beautiful.
APPRAISER: I agree with you 100%. It's a beautiful composition. It's a beautiful image, it's so nicely painted. Uh, do we know when they acquired it? How much they may have paid for it?
GUEST: I think in the '40s or '50s, and I have a receipt, that says $150. Um, and they paid it off, um, little by little. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Oh, in installments.
GUEST: Installments, yes, yes.
APPRAISER: Okay, well, that wasn't uncommon then.
GUEST: Right. I think that's before they had their five children, so they may have had a little extra money.
APPRAISER: Okay. Okay. Well, as you point out, it's-it's a beautiful painting. It's by George Gardner Symons. It's an original oil on canvas. I would say it's probably circa 1920. And he's an artist thought of as both a sort of impressionist as well as a realist. There's a whole school of American artists working in the first quarter of the 20th century who did this sort of thing, working out of doors through all sorts of weather. And it's lovely. I mean, we see the sun coming through, really looks like dusk.
GUEST: Mm-hm.
APPRAISER: How far away is the location from where we now stand?
GUEST: Not far, uh, it's in the Des Moines area. It's an image of Fourmile Creek, which is just east of here. Yeah.
APPRAISER: Have you been there today? Does it look like this?
GUEST: I have not. Um, I think I'll have to drive by there today on our way home. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Interestingly, I found where one other painting of Fourmile Creek, larger in size and scale,
GUEST: Oh... Oh...
APPRAISER: was done by Gardner Symons that's been on the market.
GUEST: Interesting.
APPRAISER: So it's a great painting. I love the use of the-the snow. You-you just can feel the cold. The viewer is sort of invited to get in, bottom right. And we see a sort of vanishing point to the left there. What can I tell you about the painting as far as value?
GUEST: (stammering): What do you think it's worth? I, gosh, I don't know. My family, um, my husband's siblings seem to think it's worth an-an awful lot.
(chuckles) But I-I mean, maybe $3,000, $4,000? I...
APPRAISER: Is the painting currently insured?
GUEST: It is not, and we'd like to insure it. Um, I think we need to insure it, yeah.
APPRAISER: Well, I think based on the-the quality, an original oil painting by George Gardner Symons, Winter Glow, old frame, probably a period frame. As long as you've known it, the painting's been housed in this frame?
GUEST: Yes, yes.
APPRAISER: Okay. I think today, 2024, insurance value probably set at $12,000.
GUEST: Oh, wonderful, all right, very good. Excellent, thank you.
$12,000 Insurance
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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