Alabama man stunned to find out his family’s painting is worth $800,000

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March 25, 2015

Birmingham Museum of Art chief curator stands with the 1896 Remington painting (Photo captured from WIAT's report) — Birmingham Museum of Art chief curator stands with the 1896 Remington painting (Photo captured from WIAT’s report)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Alabamian Ty Dodge found out in an episode of Antiques Roadshow that aired Monday that the Frederic Remington painting of his great grandfather and a letter between the artist and his ancestor are worth a jaw-dropping $800,000.

“My appraiser on the roadshow asked me, ‘How much do you think it is worth?’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t know, $15,000?’ And she said, ‘Well that, plus the letter, would be between $600,000 and $800,000.’ And I think because I’m not a very reactive guy, I didn’t react very much and I think that put her off a bit,” Mr. Dodge said in a report by Birmingham’s WIAT.

The painting is one of a series on army officers done by famous American painter and sculptor Frederic Remington. The painting of Dodge’s great grandfather, Lea Febiger, has been hanging in the family’s home for the last several decades, but it will soon find a new home in the Birmingham Museum of Art. It was last appraised for only $7,500 in the 1960s.

The piece, which will be on loan, will be the Museum’s first Remington painting, and its chief curator, Graham Boettcher, couldn’t be more excited about it.

“A Remington painting has always eluded us. Now we can show every aspect of Remington as an artist, which is very exciting,” Boettcher said.

The painting will soon be on display a the Museum.