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GUEST: So I brought a 
painting that belonged 
to my grandparents. 
It hung in their home,

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it hung in my mother's, 
my parents' home,

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and it's been hanging 
in my living room for 
the past 20 years. I 
know it's Fern Coppedge.

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APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

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GUEST: And, um, Lehigh 
Valley, Delaware Gap area 
is the scenes that inspired 
it. The painting had

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been purchased by my 
grandparents, my father's 
father, and we believe 
they purchased it at a

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auction or fundraiser for 
Lafayette College, which is 
also in Eastern Pennsylvania.

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APPRAISER: I did notice a 
price tag and a t, with a 
title that says, uh, "December

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Mist," uh, "$100." Fern Coppedge 
is one of the best-known 
Pennsylvania Impressionists,

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so you have here one of 
her quintessential works.

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GUEST: Wow.

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APPRAISER: Um, and when 
I say quintessential,

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I think it has everything 
that you want in a, 
in a Fern Coppedge.

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GUEST: Oh, really? 
'Cause I always thought 
it was dark, so...

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APPRAISER: I think it's 
gotten a little dark with age.

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GUEST (laughs): Okay.

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APPRAISER: This would have 
been painted probably early 
o, early on when she came

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to Pennsylvania. So she came 
to Pennsylvania in 1920 to live 
and work in Bucks County and

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in Philadelphia. Before 
that, she studied at 
the Art Institute of

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Chicago and at the Art 
Students League with, uh, 
William Merritt Chase...

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GUEST: Oh, wow.

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APPRAISER: ...in New York, 
and then at the Pennsylvania 
Academy of Fine Arts

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with Daniel Garber. 
Approximately when do 
you think the painting 
was, was purchased?

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GUEST: Probably 1920s, 1930s.

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APPRAISER: And it does make 
sense with Fern Coppedge's 
own movements into, uh,

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Pennsylvania, because she 
actually started to settle 
down in Pennsylvania i, as of

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1920. She was a lover of 
light and color. Given 
the fact that this is,

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painting is from 1920, 
that makes it ba, basically 
about 100 years old.

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GUEST: Yes.

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APPRAISER: And there's a lot 
of dirt, uh, that has settled 
into the paint. But even through

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that dirt, we can see the 
amount of attention she paid to 
color. When we look at the snow,

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especially, she saw so 
many different colors 
within the snow that would

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change with the time of 
day. She took one step 
towards Fauvism, expressing

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the emotions, colors 
expressing the impressions, 
as well. And I think if 
the painting was cleaned,

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a lot of these blues would 
just pop out dramatically.

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GUEST: Oh, really? Uh-huh.

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APPRAISER: And the purples 
would also pop out. This 
painting is oil on canvas. So I

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assume it's the original 
frame. I do think it's 
the original frame, yes.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: This is the typical 
kind of subject matter that she

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loved. She loved the 
snow. She would even go 
out and paint in a, like,

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a, in a bear skin. She 
would paint en plein air, 
which means paint outside.

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GUEST: Right.

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APPRAISER: She was very much 
into the reality of the moment. 
The group of, uh, female artists

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with whom she was associated 
was called the Philadelphia Ten. 
It was a group of progressive

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fe, uh, female artists who 
basically supported each 
other in the otherwise 
kind of boys' club of

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artists during that time. 
Uh, they would exhibit 
together and work together 
from the 1920s into the

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1930s. She exhibited widely 
during, during the time, and she 
was respected even though women

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artists didn't have as 
much visibility, I would 
say, as some of the major 
male artists like, uh,

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Redfield and Garber, who 
was her teacher and, and 
one of her, uh, closest 
artist friends. It really

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celebrates everything that 
she saw. She would even 
tie her canvases up in 
between trees, uh, to...

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GUEST: Oh, really?

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APPRAISER: Yeah.

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GUEST: Wow.

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APPRAISER: So she was 
intrepid. Her market has been 
doing very well recently.

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GUEST: Oh.

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APPRAISER: I would insure this 
for no less than $120,000.

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GUEST: Oh, really? (laughs) Wow, 
wow. Okay, that's, that's worth

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insuring. (laughs) I was 
not expecting that. Thank 
you, Grandpa. (both laugh)