RICK: Interesting-- actually, a
little creepy too. [chuckling] Who did it? It's by Pedro Friedeberg.
RICK: OK. CHUMLEE: Who's that? RICK: He was a pretty big
deal in the '60s and the '70s. He was a surrealist
artist, and surrealism was like, anything goes, just
add a hallucinogenic drug. [chuckling] [boogie music playing] ARTHUR: It's a very
whimsical piece. It is made in 1960s. I'm asking for $18,000
to $20,000 for it. What I love about this
piece is that I have not seen another identical
piece like it, and I find it to
be truly unique. RICK: This is really intriguing. How much do you want for it? [nervous chuckle] I was hoping for
$18,000 to $20,000. RICK: OK. Is it signed by him anywhere? ARTHUR: It definitely is. It's right here in
the back, by his neck. RICK: All right, um-- [sighing] --I know he's still popular. ARTHUR: Mm-hmm RICK: What this is
worth, I have no idea. It's really weird. I think it will sell, but let me
have someone take a look at it if you don't mind. Can you hang on
for a few minutes? - Absolutely.
- All right. I'm going to go
make a phone call. ARTHUR: Great. RICK: Do you like it? I think it would look
perfect in your house. RICK: It might, actually. My house is pretty weird. ARTHUR: I feel confident
that the expert is going to come in and
re-evaluate the piece, because I bought
it in confidence that the piece is original. RICK: This thing is
definitely unique. I think it's one-of-a-kind. But there is damage
on this thing. So I called up my friend Brett,
and hopefully he knows a lot more about this than I do. BRETT: Pedro
Friedeberg, all right. He was a pretty eccentric
man, and this is very much indicative of his work. He did a lot of kind
of semi-functional art. You know, he did the-- the chair that was in the
shape of a hand, where you actually sat on the palm. He made the hand chair? BRETT: He was the-- he
was the hand chair guy. I know he sold
thousands of those. RICK: OK. BRETT: In the
1950s, everybody was trying to paint with meaning. And then he came along, and
he created these works that were kind of the opposite
of that, that were almost kind of deco in their feel. I think he used to call it
"anti-art for art's sake," and it-- it really caught on. Now, Rick, I imagine
you've got some concerns. Yeah. These cards are
all faded out, so I think this was by a window. We have chips on it. We have wax everywhere. And I don't know if it's
one of those art things that you should have
put the candles in, or just had candles sitting
in it without being lit. What would something like
this be worth with the damage? You know, I don't think
the damage is going to impact an artist like Friedeberg. It wasn't about being pristine
when he composed his work. It was kind of just
the overall aesthetic. That being said, from a value
standpoint, a piece like this, I think, with the
condition and everything, it would probably be in the
neighborhood of $20,000, somewhere in there. It's a neat piece. All right well thanks, man.
I appreciate it. BRETT: Rick, it was a pleasure. I think this is a work that
would do well in the shop. This is an artist
whose works have sold at Sotheby's and Christie's,
and to have a one-of-a-kind work like this, not one
that was mass-produced, or done in the
thousands, is quite rare. RICK: So what would you
realistically take for it. I was hoping to
get $18,000 for it. That's not going to happen. I would give you $8,000. We can meet halfway. Um, how about $15,000? RICK: No. There's no money
in it for me then. Literally, what is
your best price? The lowest I can go is
$12,000, and that's the best. It is a beautiful piece. It is very unique. Unique, I'll give you. Beautiful, I don't know. [chuckling] RICK: I'll go $11,000. In my head, anything beyond
that makes zero business sense. I can't. RICK: If you change your mind.
- All right. All right, have
a good one, man. Thank you. I feel a little
disappointed that we were not able to make a deal today. I had my heart
set on selling it.
