We take the job and process of authenticating Miriam’s work seriously so that you as a collector can have confidence in the foundational value of the work you purchase. This recent case illustrates our commitment to you as a collector and organization to establish authenticity and provenance of each piece.
An antiques dealer in Alabama recently reached out with a piece they purchased at an estate sale in Birmingham wondering if it was Miriam’s work (see below). Miriam’s eyesight and memory are suspect at 89, and she didn’t recognize the piece but thought she had done a similar one decades ago in the Mountain Brook area of Birmingham. Here is our authentication process. We did end up acquiring the piece for the Miriam McClung Collection.
First, we traced the provenance of the work. The antique dealer, which has graciously helped us in the past locate Miriam’s work at estate sales in Birmingham, purchased this work from an estate where Miriam knew the owners well and had sold work to over the decades.
We suspected the painting was of either an area behind the Birmingham Botanical Gardens looking up toward English Village or up on a hill looking down toward the valley where the estate’s home was built. We used Google Earth and Maps satellite and street views to see if there were matches. We also relied on our (Miriam and Frank) extensive memory of those locations having grown up, lived, and painted there.
Miriam often painted at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, especially in the back, wooded areas, so there was a strong possibility this work could have been done there looking through the woods toward English Village homes. The problem was the large rocks in the foreground and the location of the homes didn’t match anything in the satellite imagery.
Though things have changed in the 50+ years since we assessed this painting was done, the Botanical Gardens have remained structurally similar to what they were in the 1970s. So, we gave that location a low probability.
The next location for the subject of the work was the area behind the estate home where the work was purchased. The estate home features very large rocks by the driveway in the same location as the one in the painting’s foreground. Additionally, the corner of the home in the painting’s left is exactly like the home where the work was purchased on Gaines Mill Circle in Birmingham, AL. Note the large rock outcrop on left and the stonework at the bottom of the home.
The perspective Miriam would have painted this work would have been in the driveway of the neighbor’s home behind them above the rocks or on the circle road itself looking down between the two homes through the woods and back up the valley to the other homes. She knew both homeowners and would have had permission to paint it.
In the spring with this work was painted (note the dogwoods in bloom in the painting), the home in the right of the painting would have been visible as well as the far homes in the background. We contacted the estate owner’s children and confirmed that the home in the painting on the right is indeed the actual home on Gaines Mill Circle (see image below).
Here is about where Miriam painted the work. Obviously this is in the fall when leaves are still on trees, but in the spring in the painting, this would be a different view. Also, she could have painted it just above this spot or artistically painted the driveway boulders in the foreground from this spot. We are 100% sure this is the location of this painting at this point. But is it Miriam’s work?
What we know at this point in the authentication process for certain is:1. The exact location where the painting was was confirmed by personal knowledge of the area, imagery, maps, and a confirmation of the heir’s son.
2. The work’s owner was Miriam’s close friend who collected her work.
Next we reached out to the antique dealer who purchased the work and asked their opinion if it was Miriam’s style based on the other works of Miriam’s they have seen. They said based on brush technique, style and colors that they thought it was her work. We agreed but wanted to be completely confident before adding the work to her collection so we used AI!
We provided Claude AI with the following works of Miriam’s–all oil paintings done in the 1970’s to include the work in question.
We asked the AI to “Analyze these oil paintings looking at composition, color palette, brush stroke and tell me the probability that they were all painted by the same artist.” Here’s what the AI concluded:
Looking at these five paintings, I’ll analyze their key artistic elements to determine if they’re likely by the same artist:
Composition:
- All five paintings share a similar compositional approach featuring trees as vertical elements framing views of buildings or activities
- Consistent use of a high vantage point looking through trees to scenes below
- Similar handling of spatial depth using foreground, middle ground, and background elements
- Trees are consistently used as compositional devices to create visual rhythm
Color Palette:
- Consistent use of greens, blues, and earth tones across all paintings
- Similar approach to depicting foliage with variations of olive and yellow-greens
- Comparable treatment of sky colors, particularly in the blues
- Consistent earth-tone palette for ground and paths
Brushwork:
- Similar loose, expressive brushstrokes across all paintings
- Consistent handling of tree trunks with direct, vertical strokes
- Comparable technique for rendering foliage with broad, loose strokes
- Similar impressionistic approach to details, especially in figures and buildings
- Consistent level of finish and paint application thickness
Technical Approach:
- Similar handling of light and shadow
- Consistent level of detail and abstraction
- Comparable treatment of architectural elements
- Similar approach to figure rendering with minimal detail
Based on these observations, I would say there is a very high probability (90-95%) that these paintings were created by the same artist. The consistency in compositional approach, color choices, brushwork technique, and overall artistic vision strongly suggests a single artist’s hand. The paintings appear to be part of a series or were created during the same period, possibly depicting different views or times of day at the same location.
The stylistic coherence is particularly evident in how the artist handles trees as framing devices and their consistent approach to creating depth through layered planes of vegetation. Even the slight variations in technique or palette can be attributed to different times of day or seasonal changes rather than different artists.
We are concluding with very high confidence this piece is indeed Miriam McClung’s work based on all the above authentication evidence including AI analysis. The home on the left was completed in 1974, so the work would have to have been done after that point, probably around the late 1970’s as a gift to her friends after the home was built.
“Landscape in Cherokee Bend in Birmingham, AL” by Miriam McClung, c. late 1970s. Oil on canvas. 30″ x 26″.
