WEBVTT

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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)