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GUEST: We purchased 
this at an open house.

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An artist was selling some of 
her own artwork, and some of her 
collection, and she had this

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available, and my wife and I 
loved it immediately, and we 
bought it right away.

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We just thought it was 
such a sweet painting.

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The woman who we purchased it 
from, this was the first 
painting that she bought when 
she

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started her art 
career in New York.

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APPRAISER: Bessie Lowenhaupt 
is one of my favorite artists.

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I'm from St. Louis, as was she.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: So it was a real 
treat to see this come in.

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Bessie Lowenhaupt was born in 
1881 in Mount Vernon, Indiana.

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She studied at the 
Chicago Art Institute.

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She got married and had five 
children, and didn't become a 
practicing artist, really,

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until she was 75 years old.

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The painting is oil on canvas, 
certainly dated circa 1960.

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Characteristic of her paintings 
is the balance between 
abstraction and reality, and 
also

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the planes of color that she 
would use to create this 
harmonious balance in her 
compositions.

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She also would use one 
dominant color in her artwork.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: And she called that 
the master of ceremonies.

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GUEST: (chuckles) Okay.

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APPRAISER: There were always 
muted tones-- grays, browns, 
earth tones-- but that was

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characteristic of her work.

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She had only one commercial 
exhibit, in 1968, at the end of 
her life.

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Uh, that was the 
year that she died.

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It was at Martin Schweig 
Galleries in St. Louis.

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She didn't ever sign her 
paintings, because she felt that 
that was presumptuous.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: And she often 
didn't title her paintings.

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But, uh, you have two 
titles, in fact...

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GUEST: Two titles.

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APPRAISER: ...on the 
back of this canvas.

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This one, on the original tag on 
the back, with her address, is 
titled "Girl Standing

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for a Fitting," but it was 
titled a, again, and what was 
the title?

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GUEST: One...

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Right.

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"Woman Descending Stairs."

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APPRAISER: Maybe the reason she 
didn't want to title her work is 
because she wanted the

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viewer to take their own idea 
away from the experience.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: Was this the frame 
that you bought it in?

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GUEST: We had this 
recently reframed.

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There wasn't a right 
angle on the frame.

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It was sort of a, a 
weird configuration.

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APPRAISER: She always 
created her own frames.

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(chuckles) She would go to a 
furniture store and pick up 
scraps of lumber.

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Poplar wood is what she would 
use, and they would always be 
very thin strips.

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GUEST: Absolutely.

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APPRAISER: And sometimes she 
would paint them to go with the 
painting.

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I think something like this, 
easily, at auction, would sell 
between $4,000 and $6,000.

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GUEST: That's great, thank 
you, I appreciate that.

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It's certainly more 
than we paid for it.

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APPRAISER: Yeah, do you 
mind divulging that price?

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GUEST: Uh, we paid $400 for it.

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APPRAISER: Wow.

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GUEST: Yeah, about 
a dozen years ago.

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APPRAISER: I was I was there!

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GUEST: Yeah. (both laugh)

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APPRAISER: If you had the 
original frame, it might make a 
slight difference.