Antiques Roadshow guests shocked reaction after | TV Shows

Guests on Antiques Roadshow are often hoping for a hefty valuation, especially for an item that could be snapped up at auction or by a collector.

For one recent guest on the PBS show, it was an art piece that they hoped would be secretly worth a fortune and they weren’t left disappointed.

A woman brought in a painting by artist Alfons Walde, which had been much treasured in her home for years. Hoping it to be worth some money, she was left stunned to find out its true value.

After the show’s expert, Alan Fausel, put a value of about $300,000 on the unique piece of art, the woman was left stunned. However she then replied, “Oh, that’s terrible! Oh! It was such a nice picture to just sort of have around.”

She then described how she came to have the rare piece of art, as she explained, “My mom was born in Europe. She went to Switzerland and skied and loved Switzerland. And when she immigrated to the United States, she brought this picture with her, kept it on her bedroom wall all the time, and would tell me about how wonderful Switzerland was.”

Examining the painting closer, he then pointed out, “This one would probably be around 1935. What’s interesting is that in this, he’s able to have this bright white against the deep shadows here, and also he does this scene a number of times over and over again.”

He added, “So this is called the Einsamer Berghof. Einsamer Berghof means ‘the lonely mountain cabin.’ And so he has the figures here. We have a person with a little child being held up there in this mountaintop retreat. One of the things that’s distinctive about him is his use of impasto. He has this very thick impasto. Impasto’s a built-up paint.”

Giving his full estimate, he then told his delighted guest, “If I were to put an auction estimate on it, I would put it at $200,000 to $300,000.”