ShareThisDear Helaine and Joe:
We inherited a picture and are enclosing a photo. It is signed "H. Arden Edwards No. 5 Placa Borda 1939." It is 30 inches wide by 40 inches tall. I would appreciate your opinion of its value.
Thank you,
H.M., Preston, Iowa
Dear H.M.:
Harold Arden Edwards must have been a very interesting man. He was born in Frankfort, Ind., on Sept. 5, 1884, and in his early years was a circus clown and daredevil.
Edwards moved to Los Angeles around 1910 and taught drama or "stagecraft" at Lincoln High School. In 1928, Edwards started building -- without the aid of an architect or skilled craftsmen -- a house that is now the Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park, also called the "Yato Kya Indian Museum."
The house was constructed on a rock outcrop on Piute Butte in the Mohave Desert in northern Los Angeles County. The work was done by Edwards, his son Arden, anthropology student Grace Oliver and some of Edwards' students and itinerant laborers.
It is said that during construction, Harold Edwards recycled plywood from stage-scenery flats. The resulting "folk art" house is now considered to be a "California Treasure," and houses Edwards' and Oliver's Native American artifacts.
Edwards was a self-taught artist who experimented with cubism early in the 1920s. Later, he became an impressionist who employed feathery brush strokes to create traditional landscapes. Edwards did oil on canvas, gouache on wood and gouache on paper, and we feel the piece in today's question is probably the latter, but it is absolutely impossible to be sure without seeing the piece in person.
"Gouache" (rhymes with "squash") is from the Italian "guazzo" and is a type of paint that is suspended in water. The main difference between gouache and watercolor is that in gouache the particles of pigment and the ratio of pigment to water are larger. In effect, gouache is heavier and more opaque than watercolor.
Edwards' most desired works are probably those with Native American themes such as views of Pueblos, but he also did California and Mexican landscapes, with the Mexican views being perhaps his least-desired subjects. H.M.'s painting may be part of his "Romantic Mexico" series, for which he had paper labels printed that included the title of the painting and the "locality" of the image.
This one is of "Placa Borda" and is his fifth painting of this place. It is very attractive but does lack some of the character of his Native American and California images. Our research reveals that Edwards' work seldom tops the $2,000 range at auction and his Mexican images rarely reach $1,000.
This, however, is a large example of Edwards' work at 30 by 40 inches, and we feel that it has an insurance-replacement value of between $1,200 and $1,400. We think these prices will increase in the near future.
In her letter, H.M. enclosed a check. We have torn it up because there is never a charge for answering a letter in this space.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Contact them at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 27540, Knoxville, TN. 37927. E-mail them at treasures(at)knology.net.)
TREASURES IN YOUR ATTIC
H. Arden Edwards Paintings
I have 2 oil on canvas painted by Mr. Edwards. He was a friend of my father's and gave my father the paintings.
One is 20x16 inches and is entitled "Laguna Cal" and signed "H.Arden Edwards" with no date.
The other is 16x13 inches and is of a street and adobe looking buildings, signed "H.A. Edwards 09." It might be a 39 but looks like a little o and a big nine.
They are worn in places and very dusty and need some repair work.
Beside what they are worth, I am looking for a place to sell them to someone who might give them some TLC.
I am in Hemet, CA