G Whitman Painting

The first question is: Do you enjoy it?

The worth is in the eye of the beholder.

No, Not being 'funny' it's just that you have raised a number of issues that keep cropping up about artwork in general!

Let me explain, but first: Your painting is very likely done by a 'Gordon' Whitman born in the late 30's early 40's and apparently was a Michigan Art Major. Very prolific he appears to have produced quite a number of paintings sold in department type stores around Canada and U.S.A. during the 60's and 70's mostly. It's probably original but only physical tests would know for sure. He primarily did landscapes of one sort or another (but not all) and predominately done in Blues and Reds. Because he has so many still around, the values range from the low to mid hundreds of dollar area.

One other researcher (not me) reports:
[I have some new credible information which may shed some light on this artist. A painting of Whitman's for sale on ebay has a typed info sheet stuck to the back, along with a authenticity certificate.

It states that: "Gordon Whitman was born in Michigan in 1945. He studied art in London, Rome and Madrid. Although his Landscapes reflect a basic traditional style, his strong colours give visual impact and a strong intensity to his canvas. His paintings seem to have their own source of light, and the intricate detail of his trees, lakes and mountains have made Whitman one of our poplar artists today. One of his landscapes was recently purchased for the private White House collection. At present, Whitman lives and works on Ibiza, an island off the coast of Spain."]

Take this with a grain of salt though, I have seen other claim a birth date as low as 1932. The information is highly suggestive but is NOT authenticated and, as such, only that author's opinion!

To complicate it further, there are also other GWhitman artists, One apparently one exhibited in the 1938 Scottish Royal Academy for example. His are worth more due to scarcity.

Authentication of artwork (especially fakes vs real) depends a lot on the physical characteristics of the painting. It's not something that can be done over the internet. The subtle brush strokes don't show on the small images for example. Nor can one shine a black light on the painting from way over here to see if the paint fluoresces to indicate newer paint! So If you think you have an earlier GWhitman you would have to take it to a professional art appraiser for evaluation. He would look at the paints, the canvas, the style etc. all which require the painting to be directly examined. Sorry, but that's the way it is for paintings.

However your's does show the characteristics of the first GWhitmore I spoke about and I'd suggest the painting is in the low hundreds range.

So if you enjoy it, it's a great piece to display and you don't have to worry overly much about it. Keep it out of direct sunlight and out of dirty or overly moist areas (i.e. out of the boot room and out of the bathroom! -smile- ) and it should last for a long time and would likely only go up in price!

Hope that doesn't disappoint!