“Antiques Roadshow”, for the first time in its 15-year history, features Washington, DC episodes on May 23 and May 30 on WETA TV Channel 26 and other PBS stations across the country.
In the first episode, May 23 at 8 PM, a 1965 signed Andy Warhol "Flowers" color lithograph, one of his earliest, was "conservatively" appraised at $30,000-$40,000. The owner had paid $25-$30 in 1965 for one of only 300 "Flowers" lithos that Warhol signed.
Other highlights of that show include a Martin Luther King, Jr. 1958 letter, and a one-of-a-kind, turn-of-the-20th century Gorham silver tea set valued at $90,000. Any Washington show just had serve up something tea party-ish.
Also, host Mark Walberg and appraiser Michael Flanigan explore the State Department’s diplomatic reception rooms, which contain a museum-quality collection of American fine and decorative arts from 1750-1825.
Highlights of the second episode, airing May 30 at 8 PM, include an 1813 Congressional sword; a Tiffany & Co Sinclair mantel clock; and an early 20th-century sculpture by Charles Schreyvogel, an east coast artist who specialized in America's west.
In this segment, Walberg interviews US General Services Administration Inspector General Brian Miller, who provides fascinating insights into FDR’s New Deal WPA program and the thousands of artworks it produced.
The third episode airs May 30 at 9:30 PM on WETA, but other PBS stations will televise it on June 27 at 8 PM. It was shot partly at the Smithsonian’s Lunder Conservation Lab, where Walberg and appraiser Nancy Druckman carefully examine miniature portraits from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Additional highlights of the third segment include a temperance banner circa 1840, and an oil painting by Jessie Willcox Smith, the Philadelphia artist famous for her illustrations of children.
“Antiques Roadshow”, PBS’s most-watched series since 1998, taped here last August at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Roadshow says they see more than 10,000 objects at any of their events. Then, producers select about 80 of them for episodes from that city. Producers consider the item’s history, rarity and value, as well as the appraiser's insights and the guest's story.
And oh, what stories the nation’s capital has. Watch some of these DC stories on "AR".
Comments