GUEST: My grandfather worked with Theodore Roosevelt's brother-in-law. Curtis gave the photograph to Theodore Roosevelt, gave it to his brother-in-law, and my grandfather worked in the same office, and Mr. Robinson gave it to my grandfather. (chuckles): My mom wasn't a fan, and she kept it covered a lot with other pictures, so...
APPRAISER: Oh. (chuckling) Oh, okay, okay, got it. (laughs): What do you know about the figure who's in the image?
GUEST: I know it's Red Hawk and that he fought against Custer at Little Bighorn, and he also fought with Crazy Horse against the U.S. Army.
APPRAISER: This is a very iconic, famous photograph by Edward Curtis. It was taken in 1905. The title is "Oasis in the Badlands," and it does depict Red Hawk, an important leader. Red Hawk was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe of what's now considered South Dakota. This image was made in the Badlands. Curtis was very, and is very famous for photographing Native Americans. This was his life project. He won a contest for the prettiest child in America, and the picture was reproduced, which is how he came to the attention of Theodore Roosevelt, who is then president. He visited Roosevelt, he photographed his children, and then shared his idea for this sort of monumental project documenting Native Americans, not just in the Dakotas, but across the entire United States. Roosevelt said, "You should talk to J.P. Morgan," who ultimately funded this project. Curtis's goal, his idea, was to document and preserve, uh, culture that he felt was disappearing. He's really known for portraits and for evoking this sense of nostalgia, romanticizing his subjects. This is a singular work. We don't usually see them this big, in this large-scale format, and that is truly special and unusual. If this were to come in to auction, I would put an estimate on the photograph at $30,000 to $40,000.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: Um, for a replacement value, I would suggest a value of $70,000.
GUEST: That’s amazing. (both laugh) Thank you.
APPRAISER: Without that provenance, at auction, I might have said $20,000 to $30,000.
