An Antiques Roadshow guest shared the dilemma she now had after her two paintings turned out to be worth a fortune.
Antiques Roadshow: Expert values paintings
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow expert gave a “special” valuation of two paintings, poignantly sharing what happened to their creator.
Antiques Roadshow expert Charlotte Riordan was at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh for filming when she encountered two understated yet striking paintings by Kim Tschang-yeul.
The BBC presenter shared her excitement: “So I know that most of our production team has been praying that raindrops stay away today but I was delighted to see these two paintings of droplets of water.
“So thank you very much for bringing them. Can you tell me how you came by the paintings?”
The owner recounted: “My brother-in-law is French and his first cousin was married to Kim, the artist. We met them when we were first married back in 1974.”
She continued, revealing their personal connection: “My sister said, ‘You really want to see his paintings. They’re pretty special.’
“I think we probably had no money at the time but we bought two because we loved them.”
Riordan then delved into the artist’s history, explaining: “Kim Tschang-yeul is Korean originally and was from unified Korea, as it was at the time.”
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She added the tragic details of his life: “In the north was where he was born. Sadly, he had to flee Korea during the Communist regime taking hold.”
Concluding the artist’s tale, she said: “He actually served in the military during the Korean War. Went to New York and then eventually settled in Paris which is where he began painting his raindrops.”
She noted that there was a “little bit of water damage” on one of the canvases, but interestingly, it was a wet canvas in his studio that inspired him to paint droplets.
Riordan shared her insights: “I believe that’s also not uncommon for the school of Korean artists that he came from.
“A lot of them went in for this kind of very repetitious, obsessive kind of mark making, and it’s seen as being a kind of result of the trauma of the war that they experienced, that this was a therapy.
“This was something they used to get out of themselves, to erase traumatic memories. As we can see, the works are both signed and dated. We think 1974 in both cases which is just a couple of years after he discovered the raindrop.
“So already by this stage, he was a complete virtuoso at creating this amazing three-dimensional effect.”
Tschang-yuel often used oils on “Hessian-like canvases” and experimented with materials such as wood and sand, which he glued to one of the two paintings for a “sharp relief”.
However, Riordan had some sad news to convey, revealing that Tschang-yuel had passed away earlier that year at the age of 91.
Reflecting on his final years, she said: “He had Parkinson’s and was having to hold his hands steady by the end to paint these drops that he never stopped painting.”
She concluded by acknowledging his legacy: “He’s a very, very well-regarded artist in Korea, he’s considered one of their pre-eminent artists and his career has thrived in America and France as well.”
When asked about their expenditure on the artworks, the wife remarked: “We’ve talked about it and I can’t imagine we paid more than £150 each at the time.”
The moment of valuation arrived, but the couple was unprepared for the expert’s assessment. She enthused: “This is exactly the kind of period that gets people particularly excited about his work.”
She then disclosed the surprising value: “And I can say that individually, possibly the piece with the sand would be worth a bit more but they’re probably worth at auction around £80,000 to £120,000 each in the current market.”
She hinted at an even higher value for one piece, saying: “Upwards of that potentially, I think, for the sand piece.”
The wife was visibly shocked, pausing before exclaiming: “Wow.”
Her husband, grinning, confessed: “We actually thought you was going to say £2,000.”
Expert Riordan corrected them with a smile: “Nope. Bit more than that”, and expressed her joy: “I’m so delighted to see them and it’s been really special having this conversation with you.”
Despite the staggering valuation, the paintings’ owner insisted it wouldn’t change their lives.
Reflecting on the sentimental value, the owner said: “I love them and that’s why we have them and the value doesn’t actually change anything,”.
They humorously added a family dilemma: “The only problem is that we have four children and I’m not sure we can cut them in half.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.