Antiques Roadshow guest 'scared' as huge valuation of forgotten painting makes history

Antiques Roadshow viewers were left stunned when a forgotten painting turned out to be one of the most valuable items ever appraised on the show. A man from Texas was left speechless when a dusty old portrait, hidden behind a door in his home, was revealed to be the priciest artwork ever featured on the popular programme.

The beloved TV show, which has been delighting audiences since 1997, follows experts from auction houses as they traverse the country, providing free evaluations of antiques and collectibles. Recently, clips from the show have found a new lease of life on TikTok, captivating a fresh generation of fans.

During a 2012 visit to Corpus Christi, one guest presented an oil painting that had been in his family for over eighty years. His great-grandparents had acquired the painting in 1930, which portrayed a stern man standing next to a bucket. The artwork had been hung behind a door in his home, obscured every time the door was opened.

Upon hearing this, appraiser Colleene Fesko could only exclaim: "Oh dear." The painting was identified as 'El Albanil,' an early piece by renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who was born in December 1886. Completed in 1904 when Rivera was just 18, the painting depicted a bricklayer, hinting at a theme that would recur in Rivera's later works: the labourers of Mexico.

Fesko explained that 'El Albanil' had been listed as "missing" in the Mexican City records after 1930, likely after the man's great-grandparents bought it. In 1996, a staggering 39 years after the death of Rivera, his painting resurfaced when a Houston rancher presented it to Marion Oettinger, who was then the curator of the San Antonio Museum of Art.

The rancher, Rugeley Ferguson, Sr., informed Oettinger that his family had acquired the artwork in the 1940s and were under the impression that it was a forgery due to inconsistencies in Rivera's handwriting.

However, it was later discovered that these inconsistencies were simply because Rivera had not yet formalised his signature at the time.

According to an obituary for Ferguson, who died in 2017, his personal collection of Wedgwood fine china was also loaned to the San Antonio Museum of Art.

A year later, Ramon Favela, an expert on Rivera's paintings, authenticated 'El Albanil'.

In 2012, the artwork made headlines again when it appeared on Antiques Roadshow and became the most expensive painting ever appraised on the show.

Fesko explained: "The painting itself is by a very important artist, it has a terrific history of being purchased in Mexico in 1930, and it's a very beautiful and important painting, so, trifectas usually pay pretty well. I would be putting a retail estimate on the piece of between $800,000 (£640,000) and $1 million (£860,000).

The Texan was left stunned when he heard the valuation, and it didn't stop there - six years on, a revised appraisal placed the retail value even higher, between $1.2 (£960,000) and $2.2 million (£1.7million)

In a follow-up interview on Twin Cities PBS, the owner was quizzed about his plans for the painting.

"Now I'm really scared to carry it around," he confessed, suggesting that it should be handed over to a museum "where everybody can look at it."

Since then, the painting has been on permanent loan to the San Antonio Museum of Art, where it continues to be displayed.