WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:05.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: I have two Eschers that my husband bought from Mr. Escher in '61. He and a friend 00:08.066 --> 00:12.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of his were interested in art, were looking around for what they could invest in. He didn't 00:12.733 --> 00:17.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% like Andy Warhol's tomato soup cans, he thought it was ugly at $15, didn't want it, and moved 00:19.766 --> 00:23.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to Mr. Escher for the prints. And I got them and the letters from Mr. Escher saying that 00:25.366 --> 00:29.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% if he wanted to buy more, buy them all at once, he's a feisty guy and didn't want to 00:29.133 --> 00:31.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% keep going to the post office. 00:31.166 --> 00:33.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: So, of course, we're talking about M.C. Escher. M.C. Escher. His visual imagery 00:33.966 --> 00:38.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% is probably some of the most well-known, nowadays, to college students across the United States, 00:40.400 --> 00:41.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% who all have a poster of some of his work on their walls. 00:41.800 --> 00:43.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Mm-hmm. 00:43.900 --> 00:46.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: At the time when your husband had bought it, he wasn't as well-known. He was 00:46.566 --> 00:51.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% living in the Netherlands as of 1941, in Baarn, until 1970. This one is "Belvedere." 00:53.266 --> 00:55.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Correct. 00:55.366 --> 00:59.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: "A beautiful view," belvedere, in Italian. He lived in Italy from about 1923 01:01.333 --> 01:04.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% until 1935, and the view is of the Abruzzo mountains. This is based on Escher's impossible 01:07.000 --> 01:12.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% cube, this was an idea that he had about a cube which cannot exist in reality. And what 01:14.400 --> 01:17.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% he was famous for was depicting, in two-dimensional form, that which cannot happen three-dimensionally. 01:19.600 --> 01:22.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That structure itself cannot exist. The ladder, the way it's placed, cannot exist. But all 01:22.266 --> 01:27.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% of it looks so natural. And a lot of it is very highly mathematically informed. Although 01:29.300 --> 01:32.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he did not consider himself a mathematician, he was writing and corresponding with a lot 01:32.333 --> 01:37.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% of mathematicians. This lithograph, it's signed, lower left in pencil, in the margin, and it's 01:39.333 --> 01:43.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% also numbered eight out of 51, and it has a Roman numeral "II." The Roman numeral refers 01:45.133 --> 01:48.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to the state. States are one grouping of the lithographs. Some little change was made, 01:50.700 --> 01:54.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and that made into a different state. Let's also talk about "Ascending and Descending." 01:54.066 --> 01:58.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When we're looking here, what we see are these figures walking up and down a staircase, but 01:58.433 --> 01:59.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% really, it's an impossible staircase. 01:59.766 --> 02:01.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GUEST: They don't go anywhere. 02:01.866 --> 02:05.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: Because it never ends. This one was done in 1960, "Belvedere" was in 1958. 02:07.866 --> 02:12.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This one doesn't have any Roman numerals, but it does have a pencil signature and a 02:14.066 --> 02:16.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% number, 26 out of 52. Can you tell me how much your husband paid for that? 02:16.500 --> 02:18.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GUEST: I think they were $30 for each, and two dollars for postage. 02:18.966 --> 02:23.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: And two dollars' postage. Have you ever had these appraised? 02:23.500 --> 02:27.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GUEST: We did. In 2004, we had our artwork appraised for insurance. 02:27.100 --> 02:29.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. 02:29.633 --> 02:33.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% GUEST: And at that time, they said "Belvedere" was $20,000, and the "Ascending and Descending" 02:33.100 --> 02:38.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% at $17,500. And we mentioned the letters, but they didn't seem to be, go into the, anything 02:41.033 --> 02:43.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% into the equation. 02:43.166 --> 02:47.000 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% APPRAISER: The letters are letters from Escher himself to your husband, and it actually shows 02:47.000 --> 02:51.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% his wry sense of humor, telling him to, as you had mentioned, to buy more at one time. 02:53.966 --> 02:56.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He was famous for his wry sense of humor. And there are a lot of fake Escher prints 02:56.066 --> 02:59.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on the market, so we know that with these letters that these works are real. Okay. And, 02:59.766 --> 03:03.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% in addition, even Escher autographs, even without prints, are valuable in and of themselves. 03:03.700 --> 03:07.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For value's sake, today, I would insure these at $50,000 each. 03:07.233 --> 03:11.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: How nice. Thank you! That's nice.