It's wonderful to have a great piece of Cape Ann Art. It's better if you have provenance. It's best when you have all that and a great story, and that's what came with the Theresa Bernstein painting, "Gloucester Harbor" we are selling for a client. The story goes like this...
Theresa Bernstein who lived to be 111 years old, would host sales of her art, right in her home in East Gloucester, MA. The particular piece which is the subject of this post, was purchased by our client (whom we'll refer to as Kathy) on October 25th, 1999. At the time Theresa was 109 years of age.
Kathy attended one such sale with a crowd of other potential buyers all eager to take home a treasure. It was one part art show, one part yard sale, 100% Theresa Bernstein. Kathy asked the representative helping Theresa, where she could go in the home to shop. The answer was a picker's dream - ANYWHERE!
With the home already crowded, people were pulling art off the walls to claim, the competition to get a piece was fierce! Kathy, with the bold heart of a picker, began looking in a closet! She found a work hidden behind other items and knew immediately she had something special!
Asking the representative for help in price and a description, she said, "well, I can help with the price, but I can't give you much information about the painting. Maybe Theresa can help but don't count on it, her eyesight isn't very good, she's almost blind".
Kathy took her treasure over to Theresa, not expecting much in the way of information, and to her surprise, the artist looked up beaming! She mused, "oh, that's one of my favorites! It's Gloucester Harbor, I painted it in 1952! Where did you find it?!" Probably nervous that it would be reclaimed, Kathy confessed she'd gotten it in the closet. "Good for you" Theresa exclaimed. They agreed on a price and Kathy was the proud new owner of the amazing painting.
Kathy has loved the painting for about 25 years, and now decided it's time to share it with someone else!
We're proud sell such a wonderful piece, but we're also very proud of our client's picking tenacity. Will you be the next owner?
If you have Cape Ann art or treasures you'd like to sell, we'd love to hear your story. Click the red button below to reach out to us!