A HOME owner has discovered that a print that had hung in her home for two decades has significantly appreciated in value.
The painting’s owner was surprised to hear the $25,000 estimate during a stop at the Antiques Roadshow.
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The painting’s owner said the artwork accidentally came into his possession.
“My husband worked for a moving company in Boston,” the owner said during the episode.
“Someone just gave [the painting] for him.”
She told a professional art director, Nigel Freeman, that the print had been hanging on the walls of her home for over 20 years.
Read more about surprise value
“I was really excited when I saw you bring this to the table,” Freeman said.
Freeman explained that Ed Ruscha, one of the pioneering Pop Art and Conceptualist painters of the 1980s, created the artwork.
Ruscha’s work often features bold text, mundane objects, and landscapes.
Fans of his work say his art captures the essence of American culture and urban life.
He is also renowned as a photographer, engraver and filmmaker.
Most museums feature her work, but some of the elements in the owner’s painting have made her artwork “scarce.”
“He continues to make art today,” Freeman said.
Freeman told the owner that she had an original print of Ruscha’s painting called “Two Similar Cities.”
The painting captures two flat orange spheres of light, depicting a starry night sky.
Freeman said the orbs were supposed to represent light pollution coming from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The painting measures one and a half meters in diameter.
“This is a large screen print,” Freeman added.
In the lower right corner, Ruscha left a pencil signature with the date confirming that it was painted in 1980.
What is a data break or error on a coin?
What causes these defects in coins and why are they so rare to find?
A die break, also known as a ruminant, is an error in a coin that forms when a die (a metal piece used to strike a coin) is missing a piece near the edge.
When the dies hit the coins, they undergo strong impact and pressure and the metal from the blank part of the coin, known as the planchet, overlaps the area left by the missing piece of the die.
Coins with such deformities are rare thanks to the U.S. Mint’s strict quality control measures.
When such errors occur, they are often detected and destroyed.
However, those that slip through the net become huge collectors’ items that are worth far more than their face value.
Source: Littleton Coin Company
“There’s what we call a ‘soft stamp,’ it’s a little raised pressing,” Freeman said.
“This is usually the printer’s or publisher’s mark. The artist himself published this print.”
In the left corner, Ruscha left a mark that said “27/35”.
The number probably indicates that the painting was part of a series of works by the famous painter.
“It really doesn’t come up for auction very often,” Freeman said.
“I would give a conservative estimate at auction of $15,000 to $25,000.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
