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

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

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

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

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

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

and our family.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GUEST: (chuckles)