Featured What Happens When Antiques Roadshow Gets It Wrong? (Video)

I'm not a podcast person so I did not realize Antiques Roadshow had one run by one of their researchers.

Ever seen something get appraised wrong on AR and have an itch to reach out? One guy did and they corrected it on their website. Then another person reached out! Great video showing the behind-the-scenes process, history used to check the item, and what happened to the painting in question!

Their YT channel appears to have other fun bits like extra appraisals, extended interviews with owners, more podcast episodes and other things so it's worth checking out their videos if you're a fan.

 

can't see bugger all Mirana

 

It works for me in the US. Could be more stringent UK/EU copyright restrictions.

 

It's the US AR...y'all have the superior one over there anyway.

If it's the embed being weird this is the copy paste: youtube.com/watch?v=m5gG3TlbxDI

If it's region restricted then VPN...?

 

THAT was Insane & WILD.....the number of corrections!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What I thought was wild was that the correction to the original correction only changed the revised date by a couple of years, a difference of importance mainly to scholars, with no real bearing on the value of the work. I thought they were going to reveal that the signature was a forgery, that some architectural feature wasn't there until after the artist died. It did, at least, move the date of creation back a bit from the artist's death. I thought the first revision was cutting it fine on that score.

 

I was also surprised the second edit came out as a slight revision. Cool to know, but not something I think most people would consider an "error."

 

Yep.

Is it worth going to the trouble of installing a free VPN etc for the video?

(I have had various VPNs over the years, all with excellent rating, but either they were picked up by a site, or they interfered with access to sites in another way.)

 

I can't answer the question of worth the trouble for you haha. I would say it's most interesting to those who are fans of the US AR and having a behind the scenes peek at what happens after something airs and needs correction + sale of that item. If you're not a fan then it's less interesting I would guess.

I only used a VPN to get around region locks on media and then turned them off when not in use. I haven't had to do that in years though so I have no recommendation on what's a good one now.

 

The painting was a scene of downtown Chicago, along Michigan Avenue, as seen from the front of the Art Institute of Chicago. What was at issue was the date, which the ARS appraiser originally put as c. 1910, based on plausible reasoning, but apparently without any deep dive into Chicago architectural history.

They were contacted by a serious Chicago architecture buff, who, based on his interpretation of some rather sketchy background buildings, moved the date to (I think) 1927. An even more learned buff saw the background differently & moved the date to c. 1925.

I may not have the years quite right, but that's the gist of it.

 

Thank you.

Thanks, from Bronwen's explanation I would guess so too. I have never seen the US one, only the UK and Dutch ones.

 

I usually turn-off my Nord VPN during my 'start-up' scan.Nord gets good reviews (we've had others-free & pay), but most/all seem to slow down performance.
Chicago's one of the most studied cities on the entire planet architecturally-it's the birthplace of American modernism & innovation architecture-wise.
I can see why some architecture historian would've jumped on it.

 

Yes, excellent, I had Nord for a while for that reason.

That, and the issues I mentioned before.

 

The podcast is called Detours. I listen to it on Spotify but I’m sure you can get it anywhere fine podcasts are available. It’s great. Goes in-depth on the back story behind certain items and whatnot. Hosted by a younger fella and a Boston towny who sounds like she was a heavy smoker. She’s the executive producer on the show. If you want to hear a stereotypical Boston accent there is none finer than hers. A middle age lady who grew up in one of the blue collar suburbs of Boston and smoked a lot always will have the best accent. When they laugh and it turns into a cough that is the cherry on top. Nice lady though it sounds like.

Edit: Spotify link https://open.spotify.com/show/1v3WxEFaCtEV4kK4hlBiAG?si=ChF6RvQ4ShWniVMN4NV3xA

 

Wonder if any of their 'expert' consultants will begin to think thrice before making future guest appearances ?
'Hi,great to be here appraising-mind if I spout off and make a complete horses ass of myself in front of 50 million viewers !'.

 

That's what I thought in the beginning except she said in her assessment that she was guessing on the date based on when that type of scene was popular. So she wasn't giving a definitive. She was also involved in making sure the more correct date was communicated to the AR producer and audience. Not something to be ashamed of. A good historian knows you approximate what you can and adjust based on new evidence. I think it's great they have a research team to support the appraiser too because it's impossible to know everything without resources.

Being on AR has to be a boost to their business anyway because if someone is looking for a service they're going to see "as seen on AR" and look no further lol.

 

Didn't they say an appraiser has only about 30 minutes to do any research & form an opinion? I nearly choked at that. What did they do before the Internet was more than just rudimentary & available in the palm of your hand?

 

Great points-It's also great when our Forum participants read & investigate the full scenario instead of shooting from the hip like me !
I will admit that someone extremely close to me does get a tiny bit fatigued by the countless hours I spend online.First thing I wake up to is about 10-15 feeds from the NY Times (I go down the Political,Art & Culture wormhole) then I run over here-Wait -How'd it get to be 11:30 already-aw s*** !

 

Yes! Completely wild. I do think they have better access to paid resources like auction results and extended digital libraries, but yikes! I bet part of the early-AR crew kit was a library of very heavy books on a bunch of subjects... Might be a thing someone should ask for their podcast because now I'm curious.

Hahahaaa my spouse loves to spend time online and deep in media/niche interests too so while we make an effort to spend non-net time doing things together on the weekends and after work, he can do his thing while I do mine lol. We share a studio so while I'm typing this, he's....editing some music playlists he says.

I have tried to massively cut down on my online time because damn if I don't have a ton of books to read, ebay stuff to get through, artistic/creative projects I'm having fun with...but sometimes it's too convenient to fart around on the happy-brain-chemical machine. When I got the new phone, I ditched all my social media but one, pared down who I followed there, keep an rss feed with only a couple news sources and comics I read, my local sub-reddit, and this place. That's it. When I run out of checking that and a 10 min scroll of ebay saves...I try to put it down and do something else. I don't always win but I'm trying!!

I've found the stuff I spend time with online should feel rewarding or usefully informative. Otherwise it's just empty distraction.

 

Mirana -I never ask someone their age,but did you grow up in the heart of the digital era ? You sound fairly savvy to the whole process of it.