David Hockney's painting being authenticated on the BBC Antique Roadshow
It’s usually easy to recognize a work by David Hockney. But a recent episode of the BBC Antiques Roadshow was a good reminder of how, even great, beloved artists, have to start somewhere.
A man (whose name is being withheld by the BBC) brought a landscape painting to she show for an appraisal. He said that his grandfather was a signalman at tiny railroad station in Trimley St. Mary, a small village in Suffolk, England in 1957. The grandfather noticed two young artists on the platform and invited them home for Sunday lunch. He bought a painting from each of the young artists. The artists turned out to be David Hockney and John Loker, who were both attending Bradford Art College before moving to London to attend the Royal College of Art.
The BBC Roadshow art expert, Rupert Maas, researched the story, the painting and the signature. He said that his job was to "question everything, and in this case, I was aware if someone was going to fake a Hockney, it wouldn't look like that.”
The dull brown and green led Maas to surmise that the young art students had limited paint because they had limited funds. The painting, on wood, had rough edges, which the owner said was the result of his mother taking a saw to the work to make it fit into a frame.
The estimated value of the painting, according to Maas, is about $37,000.
A family feud has been going on over Norman Rockwell illustrations that hung in the White House for several decades.
The series, So You Want to See the President, was created during F.D.R.’s presidency. In 1943, Rockwell gave the drawings to Stephen T. Early, F.D.R.’s press secretary. Early’s image was depicted in the works, along with images of reporters, military leaders and others who were waiting in the Reception Room to speak with F.D.R.
The artworks were kept in the Early family home. How and when they were loaned to the White House, and to whom they belong, is being disputed by Early’s son and daughter, who claims to own them, and Early’s niece and nephews, who are also laying claim to the works.
There may be some evidence that the artworks were loaned to the Whitehouse in 1980, but attorneys for both sides of the ownership are disputing all claims of ownership. The drawings were published in the Saturday Evening Post, and the originals given to Early. They have been appraised, unofficially, to be worth about $8 million.
References:
Tessa Solomon. A Rare Early Work by David Hockney Worth Over $35,000 Was Discovered on Antiques Roadshow. ArtNews. March 15, 2023.
BBC News. Antiques Roadshow: Hockney student painting a revelation - expert. March 14, 2023.
Colin Moynihan. Rockwells Long at White House Are Now at the Heart of a Family Dispute. The New York Times. March 17, 2023.
Daniel Lippman, Alex Thompson, Max Tani. Iconic Norman Rockwell works of art are taken off the White House walls. Politico. July 5, 2022.