In determining the value of a painting, a number of factors mustbe considered, including the artist, provenance, the quality ofwork, period (date), and condition. In many instances we valuepaintings whose style and date of creation matches those ofwell-known artists though they lack signatures. High quality worksproduced in a specific period that cannot be directly connected toan individual artist by a signature or significant provenance,though created in the same style of an artist, are consideredschool or genre paintings.

For example, many drawings in the market which cannot beattributed to Rembrandt yet have all the physical attributes of aRembrandt are sold as “school of Rembrandt.” While an unsignedpainting by a particular artist would have less value than a signedexample by that very same artist, unsigned genre paintings do notcommand the highest prices in the marketplace.

We exercised this rule of thumb when asked to value a paintingdescribed to be by Maxfield Parrish (American, 1870 – 1966) titledAngel with a claimed value of $200,000. Because thepainting was burned in a fire and there were no existingphotographs, we spoke to the insured in great detail about thispainting. It was described to us as depicting an angel withextravagant, delicately painted gossamer wings on a rock on herknees, topless with a diaphanous cloth draped over her. The entirepainting measured approximately 20″ x 30″. The painting was notsigned and, according to the insureds, they were never able toattribute the piece to Maxfield Parrish. It was bequeathed to them20 years earlier from a family friend who received it from hissister who was said to have received it directly from MaxfieldParrish when they studied together at the Art Institute of Chicago.Knowing Maxfield Parrish's work, this was a perfect depiction ofhis style and subject matter.

Enservio Select referenced Maxfield Parrish's mostrecent catalogue raisonné, The Art of Maxfield Parrish,published by John Goodspeed Stuart, which references every knownParrish image, to find an image representing the subject propertypainting's description. While there are many Parrish paintingsdepicting a side view of a woman kneeling on rocks (Starsand Morning are two famous related images), there are noParrish paintings or illustrations which depict an angel withgossamer wings, and gossamer wings in general were not an attributefound in any of his work. Furthermore, Parrish's female figureswere not topless as the angel in the subject property paintingwas.

We also consulted with Maxfield Parrish authority and expertAlma Gilbert-Smith of the Parrish House Foundation about thispainting. The Foundation believes that the subject property,entitled Angel, is not the sort of composition whichParrish did. Secondly, she stated that all finished Parrishpaintings were signed. Accordingly, Gilbert-Smith, based on theinformation provided, concludes the painting was not completed byMaxfield Parrish.

Based on our research, we found that the claimed painting is notlikely the work of Maxfield Parrish and valued it as such. If wemake the extraordinary assumption that this painting was a verywell-painted depiction of an angel, as described, from the late19th/early 20th century and unsigned, the replacement value wouldbe considerably less than the claimed value. In this instance,where the painting owned by the insured bears resemblance topaintings by Maxfield Parrish but cannot be attributed to Parrish,we have priced it as a “school of” Maxfield Parrish because it wasproduced in a specific period and in the same style as theartist.

While Maxfield Parrish is considered a major American artistwhose works bring premium prices in the current marketplace, notall high quality works produced in the same time are seen in such afavorable light. Considering the size of the painting and sales for“school of” Maxfield Parrish paintings, and paintings created inthe style of Maxfield Parrish, we determined this painting to havea replacement value of $7,500. This represented a $192,500difference from the claimed value of $200,000.