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GUEST: Well, this portrait I 
inherited from my great-uncle, 
and as a young man, he moved

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from South Dakota to California, 
and became a restorative 
dentist in Beverly Hills. And

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he worked on a lot of 
movie stars and famous 
people. And Nicolai Fechin, 
the artist, happened

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to be not only one of his 
patients, but a friend of his. 
And he did this portrait of

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my uncle's son, and it was his 
only son. And when he was in 
college, this... his son got

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killed in a car accident. So 
this was also a gift of love, 
and very special to myself

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and our family.

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APPRAISER: Well, it's 
a spectacular portrait, 
as we would expect of 
Nicolai Fechin. It's

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charcoal on paper, as he 
did many of his portraits. 
It's initialed lower 
right, "N.F." He is an

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artist that led a really 
international life, and that's 
had a big impact on his value in

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the market today. He started 
his life in Russia. He 
ended up having to flee, 
due to the Bolshevik

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Revolution. Through the good 
graces of a few American 
collectors who knew his work, he

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came to New York. He was there 
for a few short years, and 
then tuberculosis drove him to

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New Mexico, as the climate 
was thought to be best for his 
health. Taos is where he really

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became quite famous in America. 
And the Taos works are, in many 
ways, his most well regarded.

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Then unfortunately, through 
divorce, he ended up leaving 
Taos and moving to Santa Monica,

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and I'm sure during that 
time, around 1936, is probably 
when he met your great-uncle.

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He could do these portraits 
at this quality consistently, 
but the intersection of these

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different markets-- the Russian 
market, the Taos market, and 
then later, he traveled further

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abroad to Java and Japan, 
as well-- all of this broad 
interest is why they're still so

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collectible, regardless of 
what period they're from. Right 
now, in 2019, I would place the

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value at auction at 
$15,000 to $25,000.

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GUEST: Thank you. I think my 
great-uncle would be very proud.

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APPRAISER: It's such a moving 
story. We were all trying 
not to cry when you told us.

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GUEST: (chuckles)