Two previously unknown Winslow Homer watercolours discovered through Antiques Roadshow have sold for a combined $189,000 at Christie’s recent 19th-century American Art auction, per artnews.com.
The watercolours, “Boy and Girl at a Well” and “Boy and Girl on a Swing,” both created in 1879, emerged from an extraordinary journey of artistic rediscovery. Passed down through five generations, the paintings were consigned by an archivist who had persistently pursued an Antiques Roadshow appraisal for over a decade.
Art advisor Betty Krulik, who initially identified the works during the PBS program’s Arkansas filming, was stunned by their provenance. “The owners didn’t really even know what they had,” Krulik revealed. The paintings’ original owner was so enamored that she created personal copies while carefully preserving the originals.
Paige Kestenman, Christie’s Vice President of American Art, highlighted the paintings’ historical significance. They represent a pastoral series painted at Houghton Farm, capturing rural innocence in the post-Civil War era. Expert Abigail Booth Gerdts authenticated the works, adding them to Homer’s official catalogue raisonné.
“Boy and Girl at a Well” commanded $113,400, slightly exceeding its high estimate of $120,000, while “Boy and Girl on a Swing” sold for $75,600, substantially surpassing initial expectations.
The sale underscores Homer’s enduring market prominence. As Kestenman noted, the artist remains “a real institution in the American art market” with consistently strong collector demand.
- Image: Winslow Homer’s Boy and Girl at a Well (1879) sold for $113,400, including fees/Christie’s
