Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: My father was in the relocation camps in Hunt, Idaho, called Minidoka during World War II... APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: ...during the Japanese relocation with his family.

My great-uncle Paul, who later became a, uh, relatively famous Northwest artist, came and visited the camps and did a painting of my father and his little sister.

APPRAISER: So your father was how old when he was in the camp in Idaho?

GUEST: 14-- they went into the relocation camp in late '42.

APPRAISER: Did he ever tell you any anecdotes about his experience?

GUEST: Well, you know, one thing is that they were only allowed to pack one bag.

My dad packed his bag full of spitballs.

(both laughing) 'Cause he thought he was the best spitball maker in Seattle, and he wanted to bring those spitballs to the camp.

APPRAISER: Wow.

GUEST: But, uh, I think it was a really mixed experience.

I mean, he was a Boy Scout and he followed the war and he knew all the old songs and he was a patriotic American.

He wanted the Americans to win, and later in life, he admitted, you know, it was hard for him.

He married a daughter of a four-star admiral.

He wound up joining the Central Intelligence Agency.

APPRAISER: (chuckling): Okay.

GUEST: And traveled all over the world with the U.S. government.

APPRAISER: And both of these are, are by the same artist, Paul Horiuchi.

GUEST: Exactly.

APPRAISER: So the one here, I'm seeing an oil on canvas.

So that's when he would have visited this camp.

GUEST: Okay.

Yeah, he wasn't interned because he wasn't in the, on the West Coast.

APPRAISER: You said that you met Horiuchi.

GUEST: I met him at least twice, probably more.

The two I remember is, as a small child, let's say five or six years old, going to his studio in Seattle.

It's a kid memory, so I just remember these big, beautiful things, these abstract things.

It seemed like the coolest place on Earth.

(both laugh) And he was the coolest guy on Earth.

APPRAISER: Paul Horiuchi, he lived a remarkable life.

GUEST: He did.

APPRAISER: Horiuchi was born in 1906 in Japan.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: His father left for the States when he was just a few days old.

And then he later joined them in Rock Springs, Wyoming...

GUEST: Ah.

APPRAISER: ...where they worked for Union Pacific Railroad.

GUEST: See, I didn't even know that.

APPRAISER: His father, uh, ended up passing away at a relatively young age.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: And Horiuchi, you know, he, his life, his early life was filled with a great deal of hardship.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: He worked for the railroad, making ends meet, and really only started to come into his own as an artist in the 1930s.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: Where he had a few group shows.

When World War II hit, of course, it was a difficult time.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: He lost his job at the railroad, ended up taking a car repair job, I think...

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: ...in the...

GUEST: I remember that.

APPRAISER: ...in the, toward the end of the war.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And, you know, his work was really on pause at that point.

He was nearly 40 years old, and he, he was really just trying to raise his family and keep employment.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: He had a solo show at the Seattle Art Museum in 1958.

There are anecdotes of his shows selling out prior to the opening.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: He was best known for his collage work, which is the example closest to you.

It's a combination of gouache, like, a heavier watercolor, and then little bits of paper that are applied in those posts.

And I know there's an inscription to your family from when it was done...

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: ...in the 1970s.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: His most famous work is a large mural at the Seattle amphitheater.

GUEST: Yeah, Seattle Center.

APPRAISER: Um, and it's still there.

GUEST: Right by the, uh, tower, yes.

APPRAISER: The example here, when he visited Idaho, is not what he's known for.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: It's an early work, and as a result, doesn't have a great deal of value.

Certainly sentimental value to your family.

GUEST: Yeah.

(laughs) Yeah.

APPRAISER: I would put an auction value at $500 to $700.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: The good news about the collage is, it is exactly in that mature, prime period of Horiuchi's work, and it is today the most desirable style.

If I were to place an auction estimate on it, I would estimate it in the range of $6,000 to $8,000.

GUEST: Oh.

Wow.

Wow.

APPRAISER: It's beautiful.

GUEST: I think so, too.

APPRAISER: It's a really nice example.

GUEST: Thank you-- thank you.

(chuckling)