- The guest froze when they told her that the painting was worth $25,000.
A guest on the Antiques Roadshow was left speechless when she was told her family-owned painting was worth around $25,000.
They gave him a landscape painting of mountains and a stream that belonged to his great-grandfather and he went to the exhibition to have it valued.
His relative was former Utah Governor Charles Rendell Mabey, who was part of the Republican Party and served from 1921 to 1925.
The item was painted by artist John Ferry and information about it was provided by PBS show host Debra Force.
Force told the guest that the painting could sell for up to $25,000 in a gallery, and she froze uncomfortably for a few seconds as she processed the information.
One Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless when she was told her family painting was worth around $25,000.
They gave him a landscape painting of mountains and a stream that belonged to his great-grandfather and he went to the exhibition to value it.
“The artist John Ferrie was born to Hungarian parents in Austria and began his life there, studying in Vienna and Munich,” Force told the guest.
“And he came to the United States in 1883. He is best known for painting western views, he embraced absolutely the entire landscape, so he went to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park and finally to Utah.
‘He was also known as the artist for the Great Northern Railway and painted hundreds of pictures for them.
“They were used as advertisements for people to take the rails to go west and visit the west.”
The presenter pointed to the inscription on the back of the painting that showed it dates from July 1920, when the artist lived in Utah.
His relative was former Utah Governor Charles Rendell Mabey, who was part of the Republican Party and served from 1921 to 1925.
Force told the guest that the painting could sell for up to $25,000 in a gallery and she froze for a few seconds as she processed the information.
It was titled The Three Patriarchs Zion Canyon Utah and the three patriarchs were the three cliffs.
Force asked the guest if she knew how much the piece might be worth and she responded: “I don’t know, nor does anyone in my family that I know of.”
The presenter said: “If this were sold in a gallery, the painting would sell in the $25,000 range.”
But the guest was speechless and didn’t say anything for a few seconds until she said ‘okay’ and smiled.
‘His work is highly coveted and desired. He’s best known for his views of Montana, but it really is a very special piece,” Force said.
The guest was silent again before saying, “That’s good.” I’ll have to go online and look up some of his other works to see what they are like.’