An Antiques Roadshow visitor suspected his autographed David Hockney was genuine, but was surprised to learn it was worth significantly more than he had anticipated.
In the most recent edition of the long-running show, specialists were present at Belmont House in Kent to appraise a variety of artefacts given to them.
One piece was a painting passed down from a grandpa to his grandson, and it was signed by David Hockney.
Painting specialist and gallery owner Rupert Maas, on the other hand, needed some convincing.
‘This is not at all what I am used to seeing by David Hockney,’ he told the man who came with the work.
‘David Hockney is one of Britain’s leading modern painters, so you will have to tell me what your case is.’
According to story, the man’s grandpa was working as a signalman at a little station between Felixstowe and Ipswich in the late 1950s when he started up a discussion with two young painters.
‘He noticed their equipment and invited them into the signal box and gave them a cup of tea,’ he explained.
To help the painters, he invited them to Sunday brunch and requested them to each bring a painting for him to purchase.
‘A year later he brandished a piece of paper showing one of these guys had one a gold medal from the Royal College of Art. So that is my case that it is a Hockney,’ he explained.
Although Maas questioned its origins, claiming it wasn’t “what everyone would think is a Hockney,” he also revealed he’d done some study.
‘I did a bit of homework having initially been incredulous, but it turns out he was in that village in 1957 which was his last year at Bradford Art College,’ he said.
‘He was there with another artist called John Loker.
‘It turns out they were there because they admired John Constable so much and they thought they were in Constable country, but of course Felixstowe is not quite there.’
He added: ‘They sort of made a pilgrimage and it turned out to be a wonderful place to paint and they stayed, hence this meeting with your grandfather. It is quite extraordinary, so I do think it is a Hockney.’
Maas then admitted he had ‘come round to your way of thinking’ when speaking to the guest.
The painting’s owner was taken aback when he learned the true value of his prized possession, since he had estimated that it was worth somewhere about £10,000.
‘I think it might be closer to £20-£30,000,’ Maas said.
Obviously stunned, the man repeated the amount and bowed over, before a woman in the audience joked that he should thank Maas for the information.
While he was doing so, Maas made a point of reminding him that he was only handing out a quotation and not any money.
‘One of the things about Hockney is that his work is so instantly recognisable to people, so when you see one that isn’t, you question it really hard,’ Mass later explained.
‘That was the problem with that picture, but it has now widen my horizons greatly and I now know what a early Hockney looks like.’
Antiques Roadshow is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.