Brian Leishman had a few hopes when he attended his first-ever art “roadshow” Thursday, to which he had brought an oil painting by Canadian artist Farquhar McGivillray Knowles.

“My expectations were to learn more about the painting and to ask if it was something they’d be interested in selling,” he said.

He was first in line to have his painting evaluated by specialists from Toronto-based art auctioneers Cowley Abbott during the “Agnes Members Valuation Day” held at the Tett Centre that afternoon. It was a follow-up event to the successful “Bring your Thing: Agnes Roadshow” that took place in the summer, but this one was for Agnes members only (which spurred a few new subscribers, too).

Leishman bought Knowles’ three foot-by-two foot “St. Catherine’s Bay, St. Lawrence River” at an antique store many years ago and was ready to part with it.

The oil painting was first examined by Perry Tung, a specialist in international art. Tung studied the painting before propping it up to study its back with a flashlight.

“We always look at the backs of works just because they tell us, sometimes, more than the fronts,” offered Tung.

The back of paintings can have descriptions by the artist, a title, a date, gallery labels, or the owner’s inscription that help piece together its history. And if there are faint chalk marks, that usually means it’s been in an auction at some point during its existence.

Tung was particularly impressed by the painting guilded frame, which was made of plaster and in impressive condition. He believed it was the original frame, which sometimes adds value to a painting.

When she finished her evaluation at the next table, Anna Holmes, who specializes in Canadian art, joins Leishman and Tung.

Thursday’s event offered Holmes a chance to return to her alma mater, Queen’s University, and reconnect with her former employer, Agnes Etherington Art Centre. She volunteered at the gallery as a curatorial assistant and collections assistant during her four years in Kingston.

She would go on to do her master’s through a program offered by the famous Christie’s Auction House in London, England, which was equal parts practical and theoretical.

Leishman tells them where he bought the painting and his history with it, including that he’d had some minor restoration work done to it a few years ago.

Holmes noted that they’re used to seeing “much smaller works” from Knowles.

“This is a treat,” she told him.

Tung suggested the painting would appeal to anyone collecting late 19th-century Canadian art.

“There’s nothing this size that’s been in the market for the last, I would say, 15 years,” he said.

Leishman asked if Cowley Abbott would sell it on his behalf.

“Absolutely,” Holmes told him.

That the painting had increased in value was a “bonus” for Leishman.

“My intention when I bought it wasn’t to get it, wait until it went up in value, and sell it,” said Leishman, whose wife Patti is an abstract artist.

“So all of our walls are abstracts, so that just doesn’t fit into the theme anymore.”

While this may be a good news story for Leishman, more often than not Holmes has to be the bearer of less-cheery news. People who attend these roadshows do so hoping that they’ve inherited or bought a painting that’s worth much more than what they’d paid for it.

“It is a bit of a difficult thing, and can be very disappointing for some people who hope that they have found, you know, that gem that’s worth a lot of money,” she said.

In her six years working for Cowley Abbott, Holmes has been involved in one of those headline-making stories, too.

“We had a David Bowie (painting) that we sold in 2021 that someone discovered at basically a dump in northern Ontario. They purchased it for $4, didn’t really know what it was, sent it to me,” the Toronto native recalled. “I saw it, did some research, discovered it was a David Bowie, and then it sold for $108,000 (at auction).”

With all of the media coverage about the discovery and sale of Bowie’s acrylic collage DHead XLVI, many people made their way to the same dump looking to find another gem.

Holmes’ recent trip to the East Coast didn’t turn up anything quite so spectacular, but those events help get the company’s name out there and new clients onboard.

“It’s so nice to have that connection with the curators and the institutions, and to be able to work on something that benefits them and benefits us at the same time, in terms of the community building that it creates,” said Holmes, who added that Cowley Abbott is a relatively new company in the art auction field.

“I don’t know if I really, even 10 years ago, appreciated what these kinds of ‘Antiques Roadshow’-style days could do for the company and for my own knowledge.”

She said she heard “a lot of interesting stories that came with those artworks.”

While the onset of the Internet has allowed people to look up the going rate of, say, a rare baseball card, you can’t do the same thing for art.

“You can find quite a lot of information online, in terms of finding what similar artworks may be at institutions. All of that information is readily available,” she said. “But there is to a degree of connoisseurship that I suppose we develop with experience in these kinds of roles.”

While European art, for example, has been around for longer and is better documented, Holmes believes Canadian art will continue to evolve and that there’s always something to learn.

“Canadian art is an exciting thing,” said Holmes. “I think it’s always it’s going to keep growing as the market takes off and people (take) more interest in art from their own country, and as there’s more and more scholarship and curators as well.”

Read the original story published in the Kingston Whig Standard.