It is the question Antiques Roadshow turned into a national obsession: How do you know if that discarded drawing stashed in the garage is an Old Master or a contribution to the trash heap? Dan Marderosian and Maris Wacs have become skilled at finding out, looking for clues both in subject matter and in style, using computer searches to help with their identification.

The pair recently spoke about art collection and art identification at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Essex Library.

Marderosian and Wacs have their own business, Lost Art Garage, searching for works that might be less than work of the Old Masters but certainly worthy of collecting and conserving. They shared some tips for finding works worth more than they appear.

For some works, provenance cannot be authoritatively established; others may be attributed to established artists, but have condition problems. Both collectors said damaged works were not necessarily out of the question, particularly if the damage could be stabilized.

“They won’t last forever, but they are beautiful now,” Marderosian said.

Marderosian showed how the pair worked with a painting they found sitting unframed and unnoticed at an auction—a cathedral in the background, a city square, buildings with blue and white awnings. They computer searched for European cities that had adopted the colors blue and white for flags. They found three, including Nuremberg, Germany. Then they noticed the cathedral had asymmetric spires—Nuremberg again. Ultimately, following their leads, they found the previously unidentified scene was by Samuel Prout, once watercolorist to Queen Victoria.

In addition to artistic style, Marderosian and Wacs look at features like the paper the artist used to ensure that it is appropriate to the age of the work was created. Checking the watermark on the construction of the paper helps establish when it was made. In some cases, since paper was a valuable commodity in the days when it was made from cloth not wood fiber, artists used both sides of the sheet. One of the works the couple brought to the Essex Library, in fact, had drawings on either side and was framed to show both images.

Marderosian and Wacs are not profiting from the artworks they discover. They do not sell them. They use their collection for a volunteer program of their own design, bringing their pictures and drawings to high schools and community colleges in New York and Ohio so students see them without the formality of a museum setting.

“This is for children who would not have the opportunity to see art, to go to a museum like the Met [New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art]. This gives them an up-close and personal experience; it’s a way of demystifying art,” Marderosian said.

Now, since moving to this area permanently some four years ago, they are looking for venues in Connecticut that would like to host their art program.

The art identification project began when Marderosian and Wacs were at an auction looking for furniture. Marderosian found a random folder of drawings and thumbed through. One in particular caught his eye. It was signed by Italian artist Guido Reni, known as the leading artist of the school of Bologna during his lifetime from the late-16th- to the mid-17th century. The signature in itself did not prove the work was authentic. Forgers, Marderosian noted, sign copies with the names of recognized artists and signatures can be added to an existing work at a much later time. That said, the style and the subject convinced Wacs and Marderosian that in that forgotten folder, they had indeed discovered a work of merit.

In general, and Wacs have concentrated on collecting drawings.

“They are more immediate, looser; the mistakes are evident, but so are the flashes of genius,” Marderosian said, adding that paintings were often commissioned and so showed the interest of the purchaser rather than the inspiration of the artist.

Discovering art treasures is not a full time occupation for either Wacs or Marderosian. She is a graphic artist who now works mostly pro bono for community organizations. Marderosian has been a lawyer for more than two decades, focused on corporate litigation. Still, he had another career before law: he was an actor, most notably playing police detective Treat Baker on the long running televised soap opera Ryan’s Hope.

Their different backgrounds give Wacs and Marderosian different strengths in looking at fine art. Her artistic training enables her to focus on aesthetic aspects. Marderosian’s knowledge of history allows him to put a particular work in a wider context.

Often, framing the works they have found with appropriate museum quality glass that blocks harmful ultraviolet rays costs more than what Wacs and Marderosian paid for the picture. They use reproduction frames that recreate the authentic period looks.

So far, the works they have collected range from the 15th- to the 18th century and they have found them everywhere from estate sales to eBay. They have the standard warning about buying in online auctions: If it looks too good to be true, it likely is. Still, Mardeosian recently saw a drawing on eBay that interested him for $57.

“For that price, I’d take a chance,” he said.