GUEST: I've frequented the thrift stores over the years, and back in what I think was the mid to late '80s... (laughing) I went to the fine arts department at the thrift store.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And I found this piece. And I've always loved it and have just kind of taken it from house to house.
APPRAISER: Okay. Now the big question: what did you pay for it?
GUEST: $2.52.
APPRAISER: $2.50. Okay. And do you know who it's by?
GUEST: No. I've never been able to read the signature. So I've always just enjoyed it.
APPRAISER: The signature is up here, it's a little indistinct.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: But this is by an artist called Earl Kerkam. K-E-R-K-A-M. Now, he was a very successful, well-paid commercial artist who gave it all up to become a fine artist.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And he studied in New York at the Art Students League, amongst other places. Went to Paris, exhibited with Andrè Derain, who was one of the leading Fauves, came back in the 1930s, and really committed himself to becoming a painter. This is unusual for him. He didn't do too many still-lifes. He tended to do more self-portraits and figurative paintings.
GUEST: Oh, uh-huh.
APPRAISER: It's oil on board. But when we look at these lines, these are actually drawn in with crayon, on top of the oil paint. In terms of when it was painted, my guess would be around about the '40-'50s. Now, although he knew people like de Kooning and Pollock, and worked with them in the WPA program...
GUEST: Really!
APPRAISER: He didn't make that big leap into Abstract Expressionism that they did. He was pretty much a disciple of Cézanne and Cubism. So he wasn't a radical as such. He passed away in 1965. And a letter was written to the directors of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, saying-- and I think this is verbatim-- "In our eyes, one of our finest artists to come out of America." The signatories of that letter included Willem de Kooning...
GUEST: Oh, my goodness...
APPRAISER: Hans Hofmann...
GUEST: Oh, my goodness...
APPRAISER: Philip Guston...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And Mark Rothko.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Amongst others. So there you have the heavy hitters of Abstract Expressionism...
GUEST: My gosh, yes.
APPRAISER: Saying this guy deserves a memorial exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art. Now, the market hasn't been perhaps as kind to him, but I think this is a lovely little painting. And in auction terms, I would expect you to get somewhere around about $1,500 to $2,500.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So two bucks and 50 well spent.
GUEST: (laughs) Thank you.
APPRAISER: Thank you.
