Nicolai Fechin Oil Portrait, ca. 1925
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GUEST:
That is my grandmother. She was from Kazan, Russia, and I understand that Nicolai Fechin was from Kazan, Russia, as well. They both ended up immigrating to the United States, I believe some time in the 1920s or so. And she ended up taking art lessons from him in New York City.
APPRAISER:
They're two immigrants. After the Bolshevik Revolution, and also the war, the situation in Russia was, was very problematic. So Fechin moved to the United States in 1923, and lived in New York City. And during that period, he was painting portraits for which he was very well known, and also teaching. And that, I suspect, is where your grandmother...
GUEST:
My understanding was that she took painting lessons from him in Greenwich Village. That's what my mother told me, anyway.
APPRAISER:
Well, mothers never lie. That's right.
GUEST:
That is correct.
APPRAISER:
In 1926, he moved to Taos. He had tuberculosis. And in Taos, he really came into his own, and some of his really famous paintings come from the Taos period. But this painting has everything Fechin ever thought of. It's very personal. During a phase of his career, he would often paint the background first.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
And then allow the features of the figure to come out in a very evocative way. And that's what I was referring to earlier when I said that she seems to emanate from the background. He had a very distinctive style. He painted with a palette knife and his thumb. He was a very hands-on painter, and has become one of the most important American 20th-century portraitists.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's a beautiful portrait. It is...
GUEST:
Thank you-- I've always loved it.
APPRAISER:
She looks like quite a character, and he was able to catch that very beautifully. So we're dating it probably around the '20s. It's oil on canvas. Beautiful condition. At auction, I would estimate it between $60,000 and $80,000.
GUEST:
Whoa! (laughs)
APPRAISER:
And for insurance, about $150,000.
GUEST:
Well, that's a nice little piece to have on the wall, I guess.
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