Antiques Roadshow guest's eyes bulge at staggering figure for 'phenomenal' paintings

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left utterly "gobsmacked" by the staggering valuation of her artwork.

During the BBC series' visit to Cromford Mills, Derbyshire, expert Frances Christie couldn't hide her enthusiasm upon encountering a guest with two paintings by Richard Eurich, an artist she adores.

Christie remarked: "So we're in the middle of Derbyshire but these two paintings really transport us miles away.

"You can see they're both signed Richard Eurich who is one of my favourite artists so I'm really excited that these showed up today."

"He's quite singular, he didn't really belong to any other group of artists and he had this sort of vision of the world that you see in both these pictures, it's so timeless."

The owner of the paintings shared their history, saying: "My great-aunt and her husband I think were early friends and patrons of Richard's and bought these quite early on in his career, I imagine to support him as an artist."

Christie delved into Eurich's background, detailing his education at Bradford College Of Art and the esteemed Slade School Of Art in the 1920s, despite his own belief that he "wasn't actually that good at life drawing" which spurred him to master his craft and "become the most incredible draughtsman".

The expert enthused: "Apparently it was a chance meeting with another one of my favourite artists Christopher Wood and Kit Wood apparently said to him 'just paint what you love' and what Eurich loved was boats.

"It's a wonderful three-masted sailing ship and when you look closely, the detail is absolutely phenomenal.

"He spent so much time making sure all the rigging, the way the mast has been put together, the way the sails are shaped.

"If you look along the foreground, there's a sort of fishing net pinned to the quayside and how he's done the title and the signature, as if it's a poster on the side of that shed."

Christie then shifted focus to the second painting which showed a marked change in style, noting that his brushwork had "slightly loosened".

"I don't know whether you know but this was from his very first exhibition of oil paintings," Christie revealed.

The guest excitedly responded: "I only discovered that reading up about him and it's very exciting to think that they bought it from the exhibition as you would, knowing a friend at the beginning of his art career.

"It's a lovely idea that they invested quite a lot of money I think, I believe this one sold for 18 guineas which is quite a lot for a friend who you think has a bit of talent."

The guest further explained that one of the paintings cost the original buyers 18 guineas, while the other was acquired for £5 back in the day.

The valuation expert began to break it down: "Well were these to come up at auction today, I'd probably suggest the valuation of the boat picture of £10,000 to £15,000..."

To which the guest's eyes widened in astonishment as she interjected with an emphatic "Wow".

Christie carried on: "But on this one, I think an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000. So for both of them together, you're looking at around £25,000 to £35,000."

Overwhelmed with joy, the owner commented: "I am really genuinely gobsmacked by that. I shall treat them with care!"

Later on, in a separate discussion, she revealed: "My feeling's that I'd quite like them to end up in a gallery where everyone can enjoy them but I might hang onto them for a little while."

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.