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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)