Marine Heritage Paintings Always Worth A Second Look

The painting above is a typical flea market / second hand shop find. A nice painting, on canvas, but removed from its original stretchers and backed with  cardboard.

The artist's name on the bottom right hand corner is "Thiesson"

IS A DOCTORED PAINTING WORTH HAULING HOME FOR ITS POTENTIAL VALUE?

LOTS OF FORMER OWNERS STUCK THEIR OARS IN, AS FAR AS ART WORK INTEGRITY - BUT FOR A LOW PRICE, WHAT THE HECK?

     If you spotted what might be a major work of art, in a somewhat compromised condition, would you pay a hundred bucks just in case it could be, even with visible damage, worth many times more than the paltry original asking price? You'd be surprised how many would walk away, believing that a million dollar work of art would be valued at less than a hundred bucks, because it had a tear or stain that appeared to have destroyed its integrity. I would obviously bank on my experience buying minor works of art, (but always with an eye for the holy grail), to hold me in good stead, when having to make that kind of decision. I'm cheaper than most of you folks so to get a hundred bucks out of me, it pretty much has to be a major work. A find, even in poor condition, that we scroungers fantasize about on these cold winter nights, as our ticket to paradise. There are art conservators out there, who might not consider a stain and some missing paint all that serious; such that restoration could be undertaken quite easily, to preserve a masterpiece. Of course, restoration can cost a lot of money, so you pretty much have to start with a known, and traded art piece; meaning it's an art work in the thousands of dollars, versus hundreds of dollars, with a demand in the marketplace.
     From the beginning of my spin in the antique profession, I have been buying art work. I'm still shy of being a millionaire, so considering I've been doing this for the past forty years, gosh, I must be a crappy judge of fine art; or any art. Well, I've had my share of successes, and as a business, we've sold a lot of paintings, and sculptures, and continue to sell them at our Gravenhurst shop with small but acceptable profit. They're not master works, but they're high quality paintings that will hold their value, and fill a space on the wall above the sofa, or situated prominently in the dining room to impress guests. In fact, other than old books, we do sell enough art work, including prints, sculptures and carvings, of a medium scale, to keep our landlord happy. We don't have many ten thousand dollar works of art, but we have ones in our gallery that average folks can afford, and feel good about having a vintage painting, metal sculpture, or wood carving in their residences. We always keep some higher quality pieces in the shop, but they don't sell as quickly as those one my mother Merle would have called, "a really pretty landscape." She used to work, as a secretary for Toronto artist, William Kranley, who had a studio near the Ontario College of Art. I inherited the painting he gave her, after she left his employ, and it is a most charming autumn scene of hardwoods and a mirroring bay, and it is still one of my favorite art pieces. It's not worth a lot of money, and most fine art auctioneers would turn-up their noses-up at such a simple, nostalgic panel, but throughout my childhood, that beautiful little painting, above our sofa, made me feel better when I was home sick from school. It is still what I believe is a depiction of near-perfect solitude.
     When I am out on an antique hunt and gather adventure, I often come upon paintings that have been, in some way, altered, from the work of the original artist. Today, for example, I found an interesting oil painting of a schooner, always a subject to be aware of, because marine themed paintings can be worth a fortune, if of high quality. Let's just say, it didn't take more than a few seconds, if your had been timing me, from the moment I spotted the nicely framed original painting, until it was under my arm while my competitors, I had been talking to, were trying to see what was so special about the painting tugged in a gymnastic-style lunge, off the shop's picture wall.
     The price was affordable and it was obvious, after a few more seconds of examination, that the canvas had been cut from the stretchers the artist used originally, and it was probably not the first frame. It's pretty easy to detect a painting on canvas, that has been removed from its stretchers, and original frame. You can see the bunching of the material, that is backed by a board instead of stretchers, which keep the canvas evenly tight corner to corner. Thus the original painting was probably damaged at some point in its history, and removed from the stretchers and placed in this frame, with an inadequate backing. What I noticed early-on, when standing back from the painting, is that a hobby artist somewhere in its chronicle, decided to touch-up areas of the art surface that may have been damaged or, possibly in this case, faded, such that it attracted the attention of a want-to-be artist, who wasn't quite up to the challenge.
     One noticeable area of tampering, is the frothing water at the bow of the schooner, that appears particularly bright and less competently applied to the canvas, than for example, the greener hue of sea water, at the right side of the ship's passage; this and the fact the older paint shows the darkening of the surface, which obviously hasn't been cleaned in decades. On the left side of the schooner, there is a poorly applied quantity of cloud-white, that is not only too-white, for the painting's age, and patina, but there is an overlap of the rigging lines, which would never have been committed by the original artist. The brush strokes of the sky on the upper right side of the canvas, shows a much higher level of competence, than the dabbing of the displaced water at the bow of the vessel.
     The painting is signed by an artist named Thiessen, a known British painter, but we have not fully commenced research on the canvas, including its removal from the frame to judge the back of the material, and if by chance there are any notations penned on the surface, which is often the case. We will then be able to determine how the painting was damaged, and how craftfully it was cut from the original stretchers. You can see an image of the signature with today's blog.
     But knowing that a painting has been altered, and in a way that can never be reversed, is it still worth purchasing? First of all, I would never turn down a competent painting or sculpture, just because it had a minor amount of damage, or had been fudged by a former owner. Of course, the asking price is always the consideration. I mean, if I came across an original Tom Thomson birch panel,  with one of his Algonquin sketches, that just happened to have been dribbled upon with house paint, it could be almost entirely obscured, and this lad would be making the purchase with bells on; and you'd be surprised at how high I would go. Of course, I'm pretty cocky about this, because I know it's not likely to happen; but folks, some of these paintings are worth having professionally restored, and if Tom Thomson's name is attached, you betcha it's a purchase to make, for the million dollar potential. I wouldn't pay a million for it, but I'll tell you what; even having a board that this incredible, iconic Canadian artist held in his hand, would be worth a lot of money, even with its art panel compromised by someone's poor house painting capabilities. Nuff said.
     Sometimes you win and sometimes, well, you lose. This is painting of a high seas schooner, fudged as it is, that I would still hang on the wall of my office, and think about all the ancestors Suzanne and I have had, who sailed on ships just like this, to come to Canada as homesteaders. If on the other hand, it turns out to be a much greater work of art, and deserving of conservation efforts, that would be nice too.
     I've owned paintings that had been cut down by as much as two thirds, and I was still able to sell the remainder. Of course
these altered pieces, are always identified as being a "damaged" or "cut" canvas. Fact is, even a third of some of these fine paintings, is worth saving, framing, and yes, hanging in a prominent place.
     We don't have a lot of information about the painting above, but we're working on it this evening, and will include additional information in tomorrow's blog.