Need help with three Charles Wysocki pictures.

Ok, I'm dumb about art. I don't even know anyone named "Art". So I'm at your mercy! I own 3 Charles Wysocki watercolors that he painted before he signed on to make calendars and puzzles and became famous. Two are still life flowers in a jug and a crock and the third is a folk art portrait of a little girl that looks exactly like Him!. And these are huge pictures!

I read on his website where anything that he painted prior to his allegiance with the calendar world is of no value. That sent up some red flags. If it's of no value, then why say so? The pictures I have are watercolors. I tried to upload the portrait one but the file's too big. I'll try again.

My question is, does anybody care or is even remotely interested in Charles Wysocki if it isn't a New England town or seascape scene? Where can I go to find out about these pictures? I got nowhere from his family. Thanks a bunch.

 

You need to resize your files to what my photo editing program calls "Web Large" 640 pixels X 480 pixels. I'm surprised that the one you did load got through, but whatever.

 

And I don't suppose you can take them out from under the glass for photographing, can you? Not that you should go to a lot of trouble, but it's impossible to tell that it's a watercolor and not a print with the glare.

 

It will help if you take a closeup of one section using the macro setting on your camera. Often prints are hard to detect without very close inspection, and even then sometimes it's not clear.

I bet his family doesn't want to help because they're monitizing repros of his work. Not very nice of them.

 

Oh, and I've found the easiest way to post an image here is to copy it on my desktop using right click and then pasting it directly into a post, again using right click.

 

Huh, that pic is 818.7 KB, less than the 1 MB limit. It loaded super fast for me. Is it hanging up and slowing you down Bakersgma?
The dimensions are 1536px × 2048px, which is pretty huge, but it's "light" as far as KB.

 

No it didn't slow me down (with super fast service) but I thought it might have created a problem for her. I did not know that the limit was 1MB.

 

Will do. I had trouble with this one and I had to do some tweaking just to get it thru.

 

I've had it out from under the glass in order to find the signature which the matting was covering up. This picture was professionally framed, better than anything I could ever do; so I took it to a framer to take it out of the frame to examine it. That's when we found it was a watercolor and not a print.

Thanks for all the info help. I'll use the suggestions I assure you, but my question is where or what site can I go to, to find out about it. Or who can I contact to have it appraised. I'm willing to ship it to a reputable appraiser, insured of course. I currently do not have it insured because I don't know if there's even an interest in something like this. Like I said, is there any interest in Wysocki's pictures that aren't New England townships or seascapes that can be repro into a puzzle or calendar?

 

Oh, one more thing, it is a huge picture, 36 inches x 50 inches and that's not counting the mats and frame. If you look closely, you'll see my reflection in the glass and it'll confirm the size. I assure you, it is a watercolor or I wouldn't bother with it. The other two pictures aren't quite as large, 24" x 32". And they apparently were intended to be purchased together because their mats and frames match each other. I'll try my best to upload a picture of them as well, using your advice.
Thanks a bunch folks.

 

I bet his family doesn't want to help because they're monitizing repros of his work. Not very nice of them. [/QUOTE]
I agree. I can understand them closely guarding his original works and I'm thinking they believe it's a print not an original watercolor. You'd think they'd be interested in getting it back for the same reason, to reproduce it. Oh well, their loss is my gain I suppose.

 

Re: the little girl looks like the artist. Many artists paint versions of themselves. Norman Rockwell is probably the most well-known person to do so, although there are many others.

Re: the art itself. There is a very well-known painting that is very similar to yours. It shows up in every fourth "early American" design in the decorating magazines. (Have no idea where the original is) Were I a home stager, I would be positively thrilled to have a different one to use!

Make SURE you know what this is before you sell it!!!

 

Hmmm. I had to google CW as I knew the name, but couldn't visualize anything... Wikipedia to the rescue. Aha! Of course I know his work; not only that, I own a print of his. Unframed at the moment.

 

I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I bought it from the family of the gentleman who bought the three pictures from Wysocki. The gentleman had them framed. The two still life's have identical mats and frames; from the early 70's BTW.

I suppose I should background myself here. I usually hesitate because it gives away my sources of merchandise. I'm not a "Thrift Store" shopper, or Flea Market haunter. I go to those places and found some really nice (and valuable) things, but most of what I buy is done privately. In my former life, I've had the opportunity to work for professional business women who wanted to retain their careers that they strived so hard to obtain, and still be a mother. Hence, I stepped in and helped them with the Mommy part. You guess it, I was a babysitter. Some call it Nanny, other's childcare provider .... a rose by any other name still smells sweet ... but eventually I ended up providing care for multiple families in my home as a licensed provider. The people I worked for over the 30 some plus years stayed in touch, and that's how I happened upon these three pictures, a former family I worked for.

No dramatic provenance sorry, just the simple truth. I wish I had some drama to make it more interesting, but I don't. People I've known over the years have stayed in touch and conversations lead to other conversations and they tell me what they have and I ask if they'd be willing to part with it, for a fair price. When I bought these Wysocki pictures, I assumed they were prints because that's what I was told they were. Hope that answered your question.

 

That's great that they're original paintings. I'd think the portrait and still lifes would have a market... especially the portrait... but that's just a guess on my part.

I did a Google search with his name and "original" as keywords, and found some auction results and items for sale. Assuming the themes in your paintings are as popular, the value might be quite nice.

My understanding is that watercolors usually have less value than oil paintings if all other factors are equal, but they still have value.

 

Okay ............ I did the search, and the only portrait that I found that looks like mine is the ONE I POSTED ON THIS SITE. <laughing> But I did find this on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/229853...e&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=canvas painting&ref=sc_gallery_3&plkey=9e0308e912af137e1678540701a40ce436ecd91f:229853571

I have this picture and one in a crock. Mine are watercolor, this one on Etsy is a print. It was easier to copy and past this site than to upload my pictures.