A woman burst into tears on Antiques Roadshow after she was given the eye-watering value of a painting she thought was “flawed” because it had a hole in it.
The guest, who appeared on the PBS version of the show in the US, with a painting that had been hanging on her wall for 40 years.
She had seen a similar one on the show, which turned out to be a fake, and wanted to know if hers could be the real deal.
READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow guest admits ‘bargain’ price they paid for very valuable item
In the clip, which has gained more than 5,800 likes on social media, she explained: “I was watching Antiques Roadshow and in the feedback booth, a gentleman stated that he found out his Edouard Cortez was a fake and a light bulb went off.
(Image: Instagram)
“I ran downstairs and sure enough, this painting that had been hanging on our wall for 40 years said Edouard Cortez.”
She went on to say that the painting was originally owned by her grandparents, who were both artists and that anything she knows about the artist she learned online.
“I just found his bio on the internet and he was best known for his Parisian street scenes. He was born in 1882 and died in 1969,” she explained.
The host praised her for doing her homework and let her know there was one tell-tale sign that experts used to verify the authenticity of Cortez’s artwork.
(Image: Instagram)
“He would take a little pin and he would stick it in the canvas and he would do that to establish the vanishing point, to determine the perspective in the painting and the drawing,” the expert explained.
He then examined the canvas to find that it had a hole in it and asked her if she’d ever noticed it before.
“I thought it was a flaw,” she replied.
But that “flaw” made the expert claim that there was “no question” that it was genuine as he explained: “If you look at the lines, they all converge and come to this point.
“Now that, of course, is not conclusive but there’s a gallery in New York and there’s another gentleman who will authenticate this works.
(Image: Instagram)
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“But I think there’s no question that this work is in fact by Edouard Cortez. For an 18 by 22-inch canvas at auction, that should be worth $30,000 to $50,000.”
The woman was left so stunned by the valuation that she started wiping away tears.
“That’s really exciting,” she said.
To which, the expert joked: “I hope those are tears of joy by the way.”
“They are tears of joy,” she replied.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
