Woody Crumbo Oil Painting, ca. 1955
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GUEST:
Well, this is done by Woody Crumbo, and Woody Crumbo did some work which he traded to Bill Ilfeld, who was a trader in northern New Mexico. And Bill gave this to my dad as partial payment for some of the work my dad did. Also because Bill's wife didn't like the painting.
APPRAISER:
I see.
GUEST:
So we got it.
APPRAISER:
Did your dad know Woody?
GUEST:
I don't know if he ever actually met Woody Crumbo. He may have, but I'm not sure.
APPRAISER:
Well, back in the '70s, when I was a curator at an Indian museum in Oklahoma, Woody Crumbo was a close friend of my wife and mine, and spent many evenings out on his ranch out on the lake visiting with he and his wife and his son, Woody Max. This painting was probably painted in the late 1950s. That was the last that he did oil paintings on any scale. The majority of Woody's oil paintings are in the Gilcrease Museum. There are not very many in private hands. The guy was a master painter. He not only could paint Indian-style paintings which this one is, he also could paint portraits like any contemporary portrait painter. He was just simply a master artist. You said you had had it appraised. What was the price?
GUEST:
Well, my parents sent off to Mr. Crumbo in the 1980s, and his daughter wrote back. She said it was worth about $3,500 at that time. We have the letter.
APPRAISER:
Well, Woody has since passed away, and things have changed. I would say, conservatively, $20,000 to $25,000. It could possibly bring 20% more than that without much trouble. So…
GUEST:
My dad will be very pleased.
APPRAISER:
Well, he should. It's a masterwork by a master artist, who was also a wonderful gentleman and somebody I loved knowing in Oklahoma.
GUEST:
Great.
APPRAISER:
Thanks so much for bringing it in, Wendy.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
It's really a great piece of art.
GUEST:
My dad will be just thrilled.
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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