Appraisal: William Wendt Landscape Oil, ca. 1920

GUEST: This painting, uh, has been, um, hanging in the house, childhood house that I grew up in here in Vermont my entire life.

Before that, uh, my father inherited it from his grandmother, and it hung in, uh, her house for his entire life.

And I believe it came from their family friend, um, William Wendt.

APPRAISER: Who was the artist.

GUEST: Who was the artist.

APPRAISER: Uh, that painted this wonderful painting.

So I noticed there's a letter attached to the back that's dated 1937.

Uh, it, it indicates that it was purchased.

It doesn't say the amount, but do you remember what it was purchased for?

GUEST: I don't think we have exact record for what it was purchased for, but my great-great-uncle did purchase this directly from William Wendt for a couple of hundred dollars.

And we believe it was, uh, as a gift, or intended for a gift, uh, for his sister, my great-great-grandmother.

It basically talks about the relationship that William Wendt had with my family.

Uh, apparently he became a family friend acquainted from his wife, Julia, who went to, uh, the Chicago Art Institute with my great-great- great-aunt Bertha.

APPRAISER: Ah.

William Wendt was born in Germany in 1865.

He immigrated to the United States in 1880, so he was only 15 years old.

He died in Laguna Beach in 1946.

He actually moved to Laguna in 1918, and that's when he set up, uh, his, uh, studio there.

And I know this painting is actually purchased through that studio, so that's a, a really kind of a cool thing.

He's known as a landscape painter that actually painted a lot of California landscapes.

And this is a California landscape.

Very nicely done.

It's an oil on canvas.

It measures 16 by 20 inches.

And it's signed down here.

It's kind of close to where the, uh, frame hits, but it's signed "William Wendt."

It's not dated, so I have to estimate the creation date, which is roughly, I would say, 1920, somewhere in that area.

GUEST: I've always loved this painting.

APPRAISER: And do you have any sense of what you think it might be worth?

GUEST: (chuckling): Um, no, but I know that my father, um, would tell my brother and I as children that, uh, in the event of a fire, grab this painting first and then exit the house.

(both laughing) APPRAISER: Get the priorities straight, right?

GUEST: (laughing): Yeah.

APPRAISER: Yeah, so I would estimate this to be worth at auction between $15,000 and $25,000.

GUEST: Wow, great.

Good job, Dad.

(both laughing)