Nan Chisholm

Nan Chisholm

Nan Chisholm is an art consultant and appraiser of 19th- and 20th-century paintings. After a long association with Sotheby’s, she founded her own business in 2003.  She has appeared as a fine art appraiser on Antiques Roadshow since its inception in 1995.  Based in New York, she grew up in Kansas City and visits frequently.

The Job: Peggy Van Witt

The Job: Peggy Van Witt

The Van Witt Fine Art Conservation studio is a high-ceilinged, light-filled, airy space in downtown Overland Park. Salon-sized canvases hang high on the walls, with smaller paintings displayed below both on the walls and on easels. There are large counters for examining or conserving works of art on each side of the main room. One might easily overlook the child’s blue apron hanging in the back corner of the studio.

Arts News – Art of War: Gifts of Peace

The story almost sounds like a tale from the “Antiques Roadshow”: a large closet full of art objects stored in a disorganized fashion. Mysterious works acquired over many decades from all around the world, of different ages, media and stylistic approaches. Many lack documentation; most need further research. But the biggest surprise here is that the location of this treasure trove was the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Couple Shares Love of Regionalism in Exhibit of Feisty Depression-Era Talent Joe Jones

Couple Shares Love of Regionalism in Exhibit of Feisty Depression-Era Talent Joe Jones

When Jim and Virginia Moffett began buying pictures around 1990, they were advised by Henry Adams, then curator of American art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, to “stay within your region.” Adams believed that focusing on artists with local connections would enable the Moffetts to have a superior and more organized collection. Now, a quarter-century after they began collecting, the Moffetts are concentrating on organizing various museum exhibitions [...]

Connecting the Community Through Paint

Connecting the Community Through Paint

When Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, executive director of the American Jazz Museum, wanted to develop a community project that would provide a contrast to the racial tensions and divisions in the news, she approached Michael Toombs, a local artist and muralist. Toombs proposed a mural, and on Nov. 4, the museum unveiled “Harmony on the Vine: Spill […]

Exhibit of 1930s Woodcuts Illumines Depression-Era Collecting in KC

Exhibit of 1930s Woodcuts Illumines Depression-Era Collecting in KC

“Originality, Simplicity, Freedom of Expression, and above all Sincerity, with a clean cut block, are characteristics of a good wood block print.” These are the words of Blanche Lazzell, a champion woodblock print maker and probably the best-known artist in the exhibit, “The 1930s in Prints: A Gift to Kansas City from The Woodcut Society.” […]