BBC Antiques Roadshow guest stunned as mum’s portrait worth five-figure sum

Antiques Roadshow expert Amin Jaffer valued one man”s painting of his mum and left him speechless

An Antiques Roadshow expert has pieced together the intriguing backstory of an artist, as they revealed the true value of a man’s portrait of his mother. The popular BBC show was in Arley Hall in Cheshire for its latest instalment, where Amin Jaffer was on hand.

When taking a closer look at the woman’s portrait, the expert remarked: “You might think you’re looking at a portrait by a European artist of the 1930s. In actual fact, this painting was done by an Indian artist in the 1950s.”

He then asked: “It’s obviously a portrait. Can you tell me something about the sitter?” which led the owner to share: “Yes, the sitter is my mother. It was painted in India. The artist worked for Grindlays Bank which was where my father worked.”

Jaffer revealed that the painting was the work of Indian artist Krishen Khanna, noting that the guest’s mother had tried to keep in touch with him over the years after posing for the portrait, reports Devon Live.

Jaffer further added: “And the story of Grindlays Bank is fascinating because Krishen Khanna, his family originally came from Lahore.

“With the separation of India and Pakistan, they moved to Shimla where he worked in Grindlays Bank. Well the artist gives up banking in 1960 and becomes a professional painter.

“He takes the leap, although he had very little money and took that big step to become a professional artist and of course, most of the works we know of his date from that later period, from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, etc.

“It’s extremely rare to find a picture from Krishen Khanna from 1954, from this experimental phase.”

The expert shared that after attending several evening art classes, Khanna emerged as “a really important figure” often hailed as “one of the great modern painters of India”.

He continued: “It’s a fascinating picture, it’s very, very much rooted in European painting of the 1930s. It has a very, very luminous effect with this very thick painting.

“Krishen Khanna has become a big name and what’s happened is the whole market for modern Indian painting has gone through the roof.

“This is partly due to the emergence of private museums in India, and the Indian diaspora, including Indians in Britain and America, in South East Asia, who are keen to reconnect with their modern heritage and have begun collecting.”

When quizzed on the projected value of the artwork, the guest candidly admitted: “None. None whatsoever. It’s never been valued.

“I’ve mentioned to my mother that I might bring it here today and she said ‘Go ahead. See what happens.’ But no idea whatsoever.”

Jaffer then continued with the official valuation, declaring: “Well I think she would be happy to know that were it to be offered at auction, it would probably be within the estimate of something like £30,000 to £50,000 today.”