GUEST: I received this book as a birthday present in 1999 when I was living in New York City. Ryan McGinley and I both went to the same school, the School of Visual Arts. He was the youngest person to receive a solo exhibit at the Whitney Museum of Art. My girlfriend at the time purchased it off the street for $25 from him.
APPRAISER: Well, you actually got it in 2000.
GUEST: Okay, sorry-- okay.
APPRAISER: Because it wasn't published until 2000. But yes, this is Ryan McGinley's own production. He did his own publication of a catalogue of his work. It's put together with double-sided tape.
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER: He made 100 copies and he signed and numbered all 100 copies. Not every picture in here is safe for public television...
GUEST: Correct, correct.
APPRAISER: But we will show you some of these really remarkable photographs. And he sold a few, he gave others away. He did send them out to gallery owners and to museums to try and get a show, and it worked, right?
GUEST: Yep.
APPRAISER: The Whitney saw it, invited him in, and then he, as you said, he became the youngest person ever to have a show at the Whitney. Here in the back is the colophon that he put together actually quite professionally, and signed and numbered here at the bottom. There have not been a lot of auction records for this book, but it sold... One copy sold in the past few years for $5,000.
GUEST: (laughing) Yes! Okay,
APPRAISER: so I would-- using that as a level...
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: I would say $5,000 to $7,000 at auction.
GUEST: That's awesome!
APPRAISER: Yeah!
