WEBVTT 00:01.634 --> 00:06.406 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: So this is a, um, a sketch out of, um, C.M. Russell's sketchbook... 00:06.406 --> 00:08.341 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. GUEST: ...from the 1920s. 00:08.341 --> 00:13.346 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: It hung on the back of my father's bedroom door. He had an 00:13.346 --> 00:17.450 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% aunt who in the early '20s went out to Wyoming, a single woman, 00:17.450 --> 00:22.188 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and she traveled out there and met Russell, and he gave her this page from his sketchbook. 00:22.188 --> 00:23.990 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% APPRAISER: Oh. 00:23.990 --> 00:25.792 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: And she brought it back to New York, where my father grew up... 00:25.792 --> 00:26.993 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% APPRAISER: Uh-huh. 00:26.993 --> 00:28.962 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: ...and gave it to my father, who was probably a toddler at the time. 00:28.962 --> 00:30.230 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% APPRAISER: Yes. 00:30.230 --> 00:33.199 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: And it was put on the back of his bedroom door, and stayed there 00:33.199 --> 00:35.702 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% until my grandparents died in the early '80s. 00:35.702 --> 00:37.037 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: Oh, and that's how you got it? 00:37.037 --> 00:39.139 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: That's how I got it, yeah. 00:39.139 --> 00:44.177 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: Oh, okay. Well, it's Charles Marion Russell, is the artist. He's born in Missouri 00:44.177 --> 00:51.251 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in 1864, and he died in Montana in 1926. He's actually signed it "C.M. Russell" down here. 00:51.251 --> 00:55.255 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And next to his signature is a little sketch of a skeleton head of a steer, 00:57.290 --> 01:03.129 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and, uh, that was frequently the way he signed. He was known as a painter 01:03.129 --> 01:08.168 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and a sculptor of, uh, old Western scenes involving cowboys and Indigenous people. 01:08.168 --> 01:11.204 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it's believed that he's done as many as 4,000 works of art total... 01:11.204 --> 01:12.705 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST; Wow. 01:12.705 --> 01:18.144 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: ...in his complete, uh, tenure as an artist. This particular work is a mixed 01:18.144 --> 01:24.217 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% media. It's watercolor, color pencil, and ink. I would date this piece probably circa 01:24.217 --> 01:31.658 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 1915 or even 1920. There's no real way of knowing exactly who this person is, but it 01:31.658 --> 01:35.028 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% wasn't really probably meant to be any person in particular. It was just, ju, a generic figure... 01:35.028 --> 01:36.196 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Mm-hmm. 01:36.196 --> 01:41.201 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: ...of a Native American. The figuration of it is typical, 01:41.201 --> 01:43.303 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% the way he drew the Native American. And you see that little drawing down there, as well... 01:43.303 --> 01:44.237 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Yeah. 01:44.237 --> 01:45.338 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: where they're, he's actually dancing and so forth... 01:45.338 --> 01:46.172 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Yeah. 01:46.172 --> 01:47.073 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: ...with the, the feathers and all the rest. 01:47.073 --> 01:48.274 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Yeah. 01:48.274 --> 01:51.478 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: But it's unusual in the sense you've got all this 01:51.478 --> 01:53.213 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% written part in here. You said it came out of his sketchbook, so... 01:53.213 --> 01:54.981 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Yeah. 01:54.981 --> 01:59.452 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% APPRAISER: He's basically lamenting the treatment of Native Americans and criticizing the government 01:59.452 --> 02:00.920 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% for a lack of respect... GUEST: Yeah. 02:00.920 --> 02:02.555 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: ...for their culture and so forth. 02:02.555 --> 02:03.723 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Mm. 02:03.723 --> 02:06.726 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% APPRAISER: So I was just wondering if you would help uh us out by maybe 02:06.726 --> 02:09.562 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% just reading the second paragraph down there. 02:09.562 --> 02:16.402 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: Sure. "Uncle Sam lets him play injun once a year, and he dances under the flag that 02:16.402 --> 02:22.142 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% made a farmer out of him. Once nature gave him everything he wanted. Now Uncle Sam's 02:22.142 --> 02:27.914 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% agent gives him bib overalls, hooks his hands around plow handles, and tells him, 02:27.914 --> 02:33.386 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% 'It's a good thing. Push it along.' Maybe it is, but they're having a hell of a time proving it." 02:33.386 --> 02:37.790 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: So he uses the term "injun," which is, without a doubt, 02:37.790 --> 02:40.727 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% highly offensive. But I think what he's doing is describing the attitude of the government... 02:40.727 --> 02:42.295 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Mm. 02:42.295 --> 02:47.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% APPRAISER: ...and his displeasure with their disrespect for their culture. The 02:47.100 --> 02:51.004 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% piece is over 100 years old, for sure, and it shows it. I would say that this 02:51.004 --> 02:54.741 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% piece is probably worth between $80,000 and $100,000 at auction. 02:54.741 --> 02:55.875 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Wow. 02:55.875 --> 02:56.910 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% APPRAISER: Mm. 02:56.910 --> 02:59.379 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST (chuckling): I am truly surprised. 02:59.379 --> 03:00.613 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% APPRAISER: Yeah. GUEST: Wow. That's incredible. 03:00.613 --> 03:01.948 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: It's a very, very special... 03:01.948 --> 03:02.649 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Wow. 03:02.649 --> 03:03.650 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% APPRAISER: Very special piece. 03:03.650 --> 03:05.919 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GUEST: Awesome, thank you. 03:05.919 --> 03:07.253 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: And, uh, we're really grateful for you bringing it, it in. 03:07.253 --> 03:09.355 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: Yeah, thank you. That's so exciting. 03:09.355 --> 03:09.722 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (both laugh)