Maentel portrait, $14,850.
Painting Discovered on Antiques Roadshow Fetches $63,000 in New York
NEW YORK CITY – At a recent auction at Doyle New York, Mr and Mrs Michael Dahl of Gridley, Calif. saw the painting they had appraised on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow fetch $63,000. Doyle New York’s Paintings and Drawings Specialist, Alan Fausel, discovered the Old Master painting while on tour with the Roadshow in Sacramento, Calif. in July 2000. The painting was given to Mrs Dahl many years ago by her aunt, who advised her “to hang on to it because it might be worth something someday.” It had been hanging inconspicuously in the Dahl’s living room for close to 25 years.
At the Sacramento taping of the Antiques Roadshow, Fausel spotted the elaborately carved and somewhat unusual frame from a distance and approached the couple. “It was by far the best painting I’ve seen on the Roadshow all year,” Fausel said. He estimated that the painting would bring $40/60,000 at auction. After intense competition from buyers both in the auction salesroom and on the telephones, it was bought by a French bidder.
The painting, circa 1750, captures a sweeping view of Naples that includes detailed ships in the harbor, and a landscape dotted with castles, churches, houses and Mount Vesuvius smoking in the distance. It is believed to be by an artist in the circle of Antonio Joli. According to Fausel, a number of artists produced similar views such as Pietro Antoniani and Johann Grevenbroeck, however, the present composition most resembles the work of the Spanish artist Juan Ruiz. Views of Naples by Ruiz are in the collection of the Prado Museum in Spain and some have recently appeared on the art market.
