Cigar Art - William Bertkau

My dad recently inherited a couple of pieces of art. The person who had them was 96 years old and knew the artist personally when she lived in New York in the early 1900's. My dad was told that the artist worked for a cigar company and his job was to paint and draw for advertisements, etc. I don't know the name of the cigar compnay.

There are two paintings - one with cigars and one is an original watercolor of a place not far from where the lady grew up. As best I can tell, the artists name is William Bertkau. Maybe someone out there has heard of him or can correct me on the name.

Anyone? Anyone?

http://ligon.biz/cigars/cigar_art.htm

http://ligon.biz/cigars/water_color.htm

Steve, those are awesome! When's Antique's Roadshow coming to Indy?

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Originally Posted by heftysmokes

Steve, those are awesome! When's Antique's Roadshow coming to Indy?

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Unfortunately, I don't have them in Indy.... I told him they would look great in my office, but he wasn't ready to give them up! I'll keep working on him.

To be honest here, I'd say the cigar art piece is hobbyist/weekend painter quality, and it's value is based upon any notoriety of the person for something else, not painting. Example, Jerry Garcia's artwork sucks, but it's worth a lot of money.
The watercolor may or may not be of much value either for similar reasoning.

However, that is not to say they are not great pieces to have and display. The cigar/card work is something many of us here would love to have on display at home or office, and if you have some history with the pieces then they are valuable to you and your father.

Sometimes the age, size, condition and subject matter can increase the value of a particular work. Just don't be bummed out if their auction value is not too much.

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Originally Posted by UpStateMike

To be honest here, I'd say the cigar art piece is hobbyist/weekend painter quality, and it's value is based upon any notoriety of the person for something else, not painting. Example, Jerry Garcia's artwork sucks, but it's worth a lot of money.
The watercolor may or may not be of much value either for similar reasoning.

However, that is not to say they are not great pieces to have and display. The cigar/card work is something many of us here would love to have on display at home or office, and if you have some history with the pieces then they are valuable to you and your father.

Sometimes the age, size, condition and subject matter can increase the value of a particular work. Just don't be bummed out if their auction value is not too much.

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Hey, thanks for the insight. I wouldnt be disappointed about a low auction value. The association with the lady who willed the pieces to my father and her friendship with the artist definitely adds to the value for us.

The cigar/card piece appears to be dated '06 and the watercolor is dated what looks like '54. That might explain why the cigar/card piece looks a little more like a hobbyist. I'd just like to know more about the artist to complete the story.

Happy to help out.

There are some online artist sites which list artists who exhibited, but if this artist didn't exhibit or sell much artwork other than working for their firm, then chances are good you won't find too much about them.

Check the ancestry websites and see if you can find any genealogy about the family name in the New York area. Maybe the artist has a living relative you can contact.

I spoke to my dad. The artist worked in New York painting billboards and signs for tobacco companies, Lucky Strike was one of the brands he worked with. Not sure if he was free lance or if he worked for an ad agency.

The watercolor is a path that led from a set of rail road tracks to the lady's house in Yonkers.