and remember -- maybe you can take it with you. >> a regular old dad... >> all he said was, "who's gonna buy something from bill wagner?" >> turned art scene heavyweight. >> he went from very clean-cut to start wearing brighter-colored shirts, and then his hair grew long. >> how important a name is he? >> there are no comparables. >> he leaves behind a puzzle. >> oh, the sun is shining. or it's an egg. are you sure these go together? >> it's always a mystery. >> this is all your dad's? >> it's a very small portion of the art that he produced. >> how do you handle an 8-ton inheritance? >> every single day, i've thought, "what am i going to do with it?" [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]

♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and today, i'm driving in the san francisco bay area in benicia. i'm here to meet two brothers who wrote to me, saying they've inherited a pretty hefty haul. my mission -- to assess the gravity of their situation. >> my name is ron wagner. my father was bill wagner, one of the most prolific artists of his day. my brother and i realize that his art should never be judged by the pound, but the situation does weigh on us. >> i meet ron at his father's house here in benicia. hi, ron. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. it's nice to meet you. >> it's clear from the front porch that his dad was a creative and colorful guy. >> my dad painted every one of these tiles individually by hand. and there's lots more inside. >> yes, i'm coming inside. >> yes. >> suddenly, i'm surrounded by this strange inheritance. ron, the door was just a tease.

every room is covered in painted tiles. look at this! incredible! and that's just the beginning. his father's art studio is jam packed with thousands more. this is all your dad's? >> this is just a little bit, actually. he was very prolific. >> these are very beautiful. it looks like each one does tell a story. >> they do. >> stories about the life of bill wagner, who was born in 1923 in san francisco. his own murals tell his tale. you think he was born an artist? >> i think his artistry came from being whisked off to central america by a cantankerous father who had gold fever. >> his father never finds that gold, but the colorful misadventures will have a big impact on young bill's imagination. the family returns to california in 1934 to start again from scratch.

as a teenager, bill dreams of attending art school, but world war ii intervenes. he enlists in the army. d-day, june 6, 1944. >> he's in a boat. the conditions are horrible. the next thing he has to do is get off that boat and jump on a beach. >> not just any beach, normandy. >> normandy. he walked onto the beach and was immediately hit by a bomb. >> how close to death was he? >> very close. he was given the last rites three times. he remembered hearing the medics tell him that he wasn't going to make it. >> he's shipped back to a veterans' hospital in california. his recovery, slow and painful. >> he lost a kidney. he was almost paralyzed in one leg. >> he was flat on his back, dealing with pain, dealing with the medication. >> to cope with the trauma, bill turns to his passion. >> when he was in the hospital, he started sketching and drawing full-time.

>> he also finds love of another kind. >> that's where he met my mom, who used to come and tell him stories and read to him. >> the two are married in 1945, and start a family. bill finally gets around to taking those art classes and soon deploys his talents in the new medium of television. >> he was in charge of all of the costumes, all of the lighting, all of the set construction, going to work every day in a suit and tie, doing art, but still playing the company role. >> in the late 1970s, when bill is in his mid-50s, he quits his job, gets divorced and decides to become a full-time artist. he also changes his name to something more exotic. his longtime friend toni andrews tells me more. >> all he said was, "who's gonna buy something from bill wagner?" guillermo is bill in spanish. granizo is his mother's maiden name. and he says, "i'd buy something

from from guillermo granizo, but bill wagner, i don't know." >> how did his look change? >> he went from very clean-cut to start wearing brighter-colored shirts, and then his hair grew long. >> we used to call him the hippie. here i was with a suit and tie on, going to work, and he was going with a paintbrush to the canvas. >> make that paintbrush to terra cotta. inspired by mexican artists such as diego rivera, granizo devotes himself to painting ceramic tiles, an ancient art form. he comes up with his own techniques and secret recipes for his glazes. >> in some ways, this is liquid glass. and you can see that these glazes are very similar in color, so you really don't know what they're gonna turn out to be until you fire them. >> you're saying that, once in the kiln, can turn out and be as bright and beautiful as these? >> absolutely. they go from grays to bright colors. >> how did granizo know what color he was painting with?

it's not with his eyes, but his fingertips. >> got to the point where he could tell the color by just putting his hand in the glazes just by the thickness. so he'd say, "oh, these are greens. these are reds." and now we're gonna start laying in color by just squeezing this syringe. do you want to try it? >> i do want to try it, but, you know, when i used to color, i could never stay in the lines. this definitely takes time and patience, but after seeing the tile run through the kiln at 2,500 degrees, it's all worth it. wow! look how colorful it is! >> the colors have now been heated up, and they bring the full color to it. >> absolutely beautiful. >> and the process is his. it took him years and years to develop the steps. >> by the early '80s, the great granizo is about to truly arrive on the art scene, ready to make his mark. how important a name is he in ceramic art? >> in my way of thinking, there are no comparables.

>> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what performing artist's real name is reginald kenneth dwight? elton john, jamie foxx, or vin diesel? the answer after the break. hi guys. this is the chevy silverado with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic.

♪ >> so reginald kenneth dwight is which performer's real name? it's a, elton john.

for the record, jamie foxx's real name is eric bishop, and vin diesel's is mark vincent. ♪ >> in the late 1970s, bill wagner quits his 9-to-5, changes his name to guillermo granizo, and becomes a full-time artist. did he live and breathe art? >> yes, 100 percent. >> it was serious to him. he had to paint every single day. ♪ >> he would be in the studio from morning to night, and the whole basement was filled with his artwork. he was just prolific. >> what's so special about this art? >> the man first, the colors second. >> joe taylor is the founder of an organization for lovers of ceramic art, the tile heritage foundation. >> no doubt he was inspired by great artists like picasso, but everything that he created was totally original.

>> soon enough, the emerging artist is receiving high-profile commissions. by the early '80s, his murals are on display throughout california in napa, monterey, benicia and beyond. >> he always would make six paintings at once. >> incredibly, granizo never uses a sketch while painting his tiles or a blueprint when putting together his murals, many comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of tiles. >> and that, to me, is really one of the miracles of his artwork, the fact that he could conceive of what that whole was going to look like in his head. >> it's enough to make my head spin. >> we're going to try to assemble a pile of tiles that we really don't know if it was a painting, a portrait. want to help? >> i do want to help. well, that looks like a shoulder. oh, the sun is shining, or it's an egg.

can't tell. okay. don't help. >> okay. >> no, your head doesn't go on your elbow. are you sure these go together? >> it's always a mystery. >> could this be upside down? the man has no head. >> we need a head. >> oh, my! >> and it looks like we're gonna be looking for more tiles. >> now imagine you're in a cherry picker, assembling a mural about the size of a basketball court like this one in los angeles, 24 feet tall and 96 feet long. granizo creates it for the 1984 olympics. at the time, it's the largest tile mural in the world by a single artist. but square footage isn't the only thing that makes it so ambitious. >> what he did was incorporate every single sport in the world that he could on that mural. >> granizo hand-paints more than 2,200 tiles in just 10 weeks. >> and he did it by barely sleeping.

he had such a passion for doing this mural. he did it day and night. >> he's paid $96,000 for his time and materials. did every penny that would come in go out in supplies? >> yeah. but, you know, that's an artist. it's not for the money. it's for the love. >> soon, granizo's murals are on display around the world -- alaska, japan, spain, and everywhere in between. >> he would smile because he says, "i'm in 40 countries now." >> in 1993, at the age of 70, granizo is diagnosed with lymphoma. >> all he said was, "i've got some drawing to do, and i will beat this because i have no intention of dying." >> he remains defiant, even as his cancer spreads. >> dad, just before he passed, supplied himself with 12 years' worth of supplies. there are hundreds of gallon-buckets of glaze. he just never saw his death coming.

>> it comes as granizo finishes his final commission, a group of murals for the city of pleasanton, california. >> as we were installing that, he was sitting in a chair off to the side, literally dying. he only had a few weeks left to live. >> but when bill wagner passes away in november 1995 at age 72, he leaves behind much more than guillermo granizo's legacy of public art. there's also a massive body of private works. >> he has thousands of pieces. this is just a fraction of it. >> you weren't kidding. there's more. >> oh, yeah. >> along with a final request for his sons. fulfilling it will be a heavy lift. that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. what debuted as an olympic sport in the 1984 summer games in los angeles? wind surfing, softball

or beach volleyball? the answer when we return. ♪you know i got it

♪all i'm askin' is for a little respect♪ excuse me ma'am, would you like to have my seat? ♪r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪find out what it means to me♪

♪r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪take care. tcb, oh naturand betweens are a facactivities and school, chances are, you won't be with your kids when they happen. will they know what to do? ready.gov/kids can help your children feel prepared, not scared. so talk with your family today. that's why xfinity mobile lets you design your own data. you can share 1, 3, or 10 gigs of data between lines, mix in lines of unlimited, and switch it up at any time. all with millions of secure wifi hotspots and the best lte everywhere else. it's a different kind of wireless network, designed to save you money. switch and save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. and save even more when you say "bring my own phone" into your voice remote. that's simple, easy, awesome. click, call or visit a store today. some people say that's ridiculous. age is just an illusion. how you show up for the world, that's what's real. what's your idea?

i put it out there with a godaddy website. ♪ >> so what debuted as an olympic sport in the 1984 summer games? it's a, wind surfing. softball and beach volleyball arrived in 1996. ♪ >> master tile artist guillermo granizo created thousands of pieces each year. his art is still on display around the globe. after his death in 1995, his sons, ron and bob, inherit their father's vast store of private works. and there's a lot of it! >> this is just

a fraction of it. there's some more in here, too. >> you weren't kidding. there's more. check out these portraits. there are hundreds of them -- a man caught in the rain, a lonely smoker, and creatures of the night. >> you never know what you're gonna find. >> then there's that set of autobiographical murals. it starts with his childhood when he was traveling through mexico and guatemala. >> this one depicts a dream granizo had as a child. that's him riding a bike across the ocean with robinson crusoe showing him the way. and here's one of him on utah beach on d-day. >> barely made it alive and probably was why he did all this painting all of his life. >> there are 120 of them in all. there's even one that features ron and bob as kids. >> and then, finally, this is the culmination of his decision to be a creative person. >> it would have been a shame if he didn't pursue this, wouldn't it? >> absolutely.

>> the brothers find stack after stack, box after box, of tiles. some pieces are stand-alone, others, parts of unassembled murals. can you describe the enormity, size-wise, of this inheritance? >> the weight of it all is about 15,000 pounds. >> or nearly 8 tons of artwork. [ elephant trumpets ] do you ever wish there was a little less to inherit? >> the metaphor was, "talk about inheriting some heavy stuff." >> heavy stuff that comes with a hefty price tag. >> i had it appraised 21 years ago, and it was worth about $300,000 at the time. >> cha-ching, assuming the brothers are willing to sell off their dad's work in pieces, but that's an issue. did he tell you what he wanted you to do with all the ceramic tile art? >> one of the things that was always a concern was he never wanted the collections to be broken up. >> not knowing what to do,

ron and bob do nothing. painted tiles collect dust for the next 21 years. >> but every single day of those 21 years, i thought, "what am i gonna do with it?" >> one of the reasons why i delayed was because i just didn't want to be on the premises. it was sad. >> after ron retires in 2016, the brothers decide it's finally time to deal with the artwork. >> dad would never want these things to be in storage. the big deal is making sure his work endures, is shown, is appreciated. >> and they realize the only way to do that -- split up the tiles and get them into the hands of art lovers. but first, the brothers have to get it all out of dad's house. and with the murals weighing as much as 75 pounds each, that's a heavy burden. excuse me. i got this. come on. you can't lift these. is it bolted to the floor? let's call in the reinforcements. >> you go have a cup of coffee.

i'll take care of the rest. >> no problem. i'll just let the guys do the lifting. >> twenty-one years' worth of dirt and dust here. okay. there's three. >> only 65 more to go! [ chuckles ] >> yeah. i have to tell you, these are solid. they're not going anywhere. >> with the tiles loaded up and headed to ron's home, the brothers are ready to sell off their strange inheritance to the highest bidders. if only it were that simple. >> there is a big risk when you put artwork out on the market, and you don't know what you're doing. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it! send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

my twin brother jacob has an autism spectrum disorder i remember one moment after being at school all day and i remember him getting into the car just balling... and saying: "mom, i have no friends" "why don't i have any friends?" it broke my heart.

♪brother let me be your shelter♪ ♪never leave you all alone that was the moment when i realized that i needed to do something about this. i needed to make a difference in his life. go! and i knew that if i could help him find a friend, i could help teach other people that including people with differences is the right thing to do. ♪bring it home ♪brother let me be your shelter♪ that was the inspiration behind my non-profit "score a friend" educating people to include the people with differences is so important because when jacob's included he feels like he can succeed in life and he feels like he actually has a purpose. ♪..home ♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> guillermo granizo, a tile artist formerly known as bill wagner, was wildly popular around the world. twenty-one years

after granizo's death, his sons, ron and bob, are trying to sell the thousands of painted tiles they inherited from their dad. what makes you think there's a market for his unique style of ceramic tile art? >> we're trying to find out what the market is. neither one of us have sold art before. >> there is a big risk when you put artwork out on the market, and you don't know what you're doing. >> makayla van swoll is a fine art adviser who's helping ron and bob with their strange inheritance. >> you can burn an artwork, and you can definitely put your values at risk. >> granizo's private artwork was appraised for $300,000 20 years ago. but makayla tells the brothers that means little today. >> an appraisal is never fixed. it's just like the stock market. something could happen tomorrow, and poof, all of a sudden, it'll be highly valuable or not at all. it really depends on how the heirs decide to develop his estate.

>> she urges ron and bob to get their dad's name and artwork back into the public conversation. >> it will help them to reestablish a presence in the san francisco bay area, develop a market for the artist's work that hopefully will grow. >> the heirs begin to display his murals across the bay area, including at the benicia historical museum. >> they said they were going do an entire art gallery based around dad's work. >> they also make a deal for a book featuring granizo's private works. >> so the book seems to be the only way that it will be held as a collection forever. >> and they donate a favorite self-portrait of their dad to the city of pleasanton to be put on permanent display in the same park as their father's final commission. the mural is unveiled at a ceremony attended by city officials and friends of granizo. ♪ [ applause ]

>> this, to me, has been his memorial. so we're very proud to donate this. >> when he could not make his dedication 21 years ago, he sent ron and i to tell you, in his place, thank you. he would love it if we could get more of it out there for people to enjoy. >> and remember that dozen years' worth of supplies he ordered right before his death? they're not going to waste. >> there has never been a loss for people calling for his work, so with maybe 5,000 square feet of tile ready to be painted on, the kilns, all the glazes, we're gonna reopen the granizo studio and see what we can do. >> that's right. bob, an artist himself, is replicating his father's style and creating some new granizo-inspired tiles. >> how does it feel to be following dad's footsteps? >> i was apprehensive at first. really didn't want to walk back into the studio after years of missing him.

it feels good now, feels real good. >> it's one more step to ensure their father's legacy won't be forgotten. how does it make you feel when you know your father has art that's everlasting, really? >> oh, it's fabulous. he used to say, "it took 2,500 degrees to make this tile. at the end of the world, it may not be that hot. my art will be still standing." >> after completing this mural that depicts his near fatal injuries sustained on utah beach, granizo wrote, "suppose that there is heaven. would i go there since i give beauty to the world? yes. i would go to heaven, where an angel would bring me my tiles. a second would hand me my tools. another would mix buckets of glaze, and still another would rush the tiles to hell, where they would be fired." here's hoping the great artist is still busy painting tiles and working the kiln.

i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> beauty's in the eye of the beholder. so meet the beholders. >> these paintings just did not appeal to me. and i don't think they appealed to my wife, either. >> i said, well, i guess the salvation army is as good as anyplace. we don't want them. >> but one man's trash... >> it just knocked my socks off. >> we have $50,000. >> within a few weeks, everybody knew about it. >> ...is another's treasure. >> did you ever consider stopping? >> there is a point we all have to stop. but no. >> i'm jamie colby, and today,

i'm in denver, colorado. i'm meeting a retired couple who relocated here to be close to family. it was that move, or rather the downsizing that preceded it, that brought this inheritance surprise to light. >> my name's don camp. i don't know a thing about art, and i doubt you'll disagree when you hear about the two paintings that sat in my basement for years. >> don, phyllis, i'm jamie. >> jamie, glad to meet you. >> you have a beautiful home. don and phyllis's story starts a few years back in 2011, when don retires from his job as an electrical engineer in upstate new york. oh, they have all sorts of plans. they want to downsize. they want to travel the world, see their daughter in taiwan and work with christian charities in africa. and they want to be closer to their grandchildren in denver. so don and phyllis sell their house. how long had you been in that

house? >> about 20 years. we had accumulated a lot of stuff. >> with the move date looming, phyllis assigns don the unpleasant task of going through the basement. >> we had a path with boxes on both sides. it was a challenge. >> it's there that don rediscovers two paintings, draped under a bed sheet. >> both of them were probably the same vintage, probably 1920s, in their original frames. >> i knew about the paintings down there, because i'd covered them up with a sheet. >> did you know how you and your husband had obtained them? >> they came from don's parents, so that's all i knew. >> don inherited the paintings from his mother, lillian camp, who had died 21 years earlier in 1990. >> we weren't fond of them, and so they ended up in the basement. ♪ >> one of them is titled

"arizona desert." >> one was a landscape scene from the southwest. >> it was a nice mountain scene. didn't have any particular meaning to us, though. >> eh. the other is titled "ruth." >> it's a woman standing by a doorway and a wall, and you can't make out her features very well. and in the foreground is a pillar with a vine running up the side of it. and that's about it. >> you wanted them out. >> i even mentioned throwing them in the dumpster. >> but phyllis figures a charity will take them. >> i said, "well, i guess the salvation army is as good as anyplace. we don't want them." >> don's about to give 'em away, but hesitates. did you think they were valuable? >> had no idea. so i wanted to contact our local auctioneer and get an opinion. >> that local auctioneer is

david mapes, in vestal, new york, just west of binghamton. don sticks the paintings in the back of his van and calls david on his cell. >> what were you thinking? >> well, i see a lot of paintings come in on the back of cars, so i wasn't real excited. >> don's not getting his hopes up, either. if this doesn't pan out, his next stop -- the salvation army, that is, if he doesn't pass a dumpster along the way. then he opens the hatch to show the auctioneer. >> what happened? >> they were laid out in the back of my mini-van. and his mouth kind of dropped open. i remember his words. he said, "that's just a painting. this other one is art." >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. grant wood's "american gothic" is one of the most recognized paintings in the world. whom did wood use as his models? his plumber and the plumber's

wife, his sister and his dentist, or his own parents? the answer after the break. hi guys. this is the chevy silverado with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible. wow. - that's pretty sweet. - that's cool. oooohh! that's awesome. where'd the trailer go? i love it. it's magic.

what's going on? he's becoming septic. [male narrator] infections can lead to a deadly chain reaction called sepsis. [nurse] bed's ready, let's move him. [narrator] if you know the risks, can spot the symptoms and act fast, then you can get ahead of sepsis. learn more at cdc dot gov slash sepsis. >> so, whom did painter grant wood recruit as the models for his iconic painting, "american gothic"? it's b. wood chose his sister and his dentist to be the farmer and daughter depicted in the painting.

>> retirees don and phyllis camp are busy packing for their move from upstate new york to denver, colorado, when they decide to get rid of two paintings don inherited from his mother decades ago. >> they were not our favorite. >> [ chuckles ] >> if we'd fallen in love with them, then i think it would have been a different story. >> on a lark, don takes them down the road to local estate appraiser david mapes. first, david eyeballs that southwestern landscape. >> it was a pleasant picture. >> pleasant? >> yeah. >> then the appraiser takes a good, long look at the woman in the red shawl. while the appraiser is staring at that painting, don is staring at the appraiser. >> and his mouth kind of dropped open. >> it just knocked my socks off. >> right in the parking lot? >> it just spoke to me. it's just one woman. you can't see her face. it's covered with a shawl. this simple, plain, exciting

scene of this woman. >> they bring the paintings inside so david can look up the signatures on his computer database. first, he types in the signature on that "pleasant" western landscape. >> karl hoerman, a german artist. >> did he tell you what he thought that one was worth? >> maybe $800. >> nothing to sneeze at. then david examines the picture of the woman in the red shawl. in the lower left-hand corner, a signature -- victor higgins. >> victor higgins. how much did you know? >> i never heard of him before. >> turns out, the guy's work sells for big bucks. >> one of his paintings sold at sotheby's for over $400,000. >> he appeals to the modern aesthetics, not only back then, but specifically today. >> mark sublette, an authority on western painting, knows all about victor higgins.

born on a farm in indiana in 1884, the artist leaves home as a teenager and studies painting at the art institute of chicago. in 1913, he's one of many american artists blown away by an international exhibition of modern art called the armory show. >> you had all these cubist and impressionistic paintings coming from europe. and it really shook up the entire art world. >> the staggered american artists, including higgins, resolve to develop their own modern styles. so several artists from around the country converge in taos, new mexico -- at the time, a sleepy southwestern pueblo. >> we have crystal-clear, blue skies with wonderful light penetration. it's a perfect setup for a colony, and that was exactly what happened. >> they establish the taos society of artists.

higgins travels to taos and becomes a member. his southwest paintings are a hit with his wealthy, big-city patrons. >> higgins makes most of his money sending paintings from taos to chicago and new york. >> his work becomes even more popular after his death in 1949. back in upstate new york, appraiser david mapes shares the news with don camp. that painting he was ready to toss in a dumpster is a big deal. >> it's an unknown painting. it just popped up, and here it is. i said to him, "this is a very valuable painting," and he said, "how valuable?" i said, "well, it's going to sell for over $100,000." >> i was amazed. >> that's a good number. >> [ chuckles ] yes. >> what did you think would happen? >> i had no idea. i was just glad that they were out of the house. [ both laugh ] >> keep in mind, don and phyllis are busy clearing out their house for the move to denver.

don doesn't think twice about leaving both paintings with his eager new acquaintance. >> he wasn't counting on it being worth anything, so it's gonna be christmas, whatever it brings. >> but before david can put a painting that he hopes is worth six figures on the market, discriminating buyers will need to know a lot more. >> they may be fakes or frauds. that's the first thing as a dealer -- is it real? 'cause often, they're not. >> here's another quiz question for you. what's the name of the desert in southern new mexico? is it the chihuahuan, coyote, or sonoran desert? the answer when we return.

>> so, what's the name of the desert in southern new mexico? it's a, the chihuahuan desert, which extends into west texas. >> in upstate new york, don and phyllis camp learn from their local estate appraiser that one of two paintings inherited from don's mother might be worth 100,000 bucks or more. >> it was good news. >> it's this portrait of an elusive pueblo woman, signed by the prominent taos school artist victor higgins. >> it's a very good field to be selling into, because a lot of collectors love that type of painting. >> first, david mapes has to appraise and authenticate the painting for auction. there are three notations on the back, written in pencil -- the name "ruth," victor higgins, and $600. >> and if you think about it, that was quite a bit of money back then. >> after decades in a dusty basement, mapes has a name and a

purchase price. but he still needs to know how "ruth" got into the hands of don's family. >> david asked me, "what's the story behind this painting?" i talked to my brother. we agreed that it must have come from our great uncle, curtis. >> why do you think he would have been interested in southwestern art? >> well, uncle curtis was a corporate attorney, as i understand, and he was on the board of the chicago art institute. >> where victor higgins studied. the appraiser concludes the painting is authentic and was likely painted in the 1920s. he knows he's about to stun the art world. you're like in the outskirts of new york. you're not in manhattan. you're not in the southwest. this is not your expertise. >> for the most part, we do estates. whenever somebody passes away, we go and take everything out that we can sell. we often find treasures in there, but not like this.

it had everything going for it. >> and when he shares his findings with art experts, he learns there's even more reason to love this painting. it turns out that ruth is a rather special lady. that's because after the 1920s, higgins switched his focus from painting human figures to landscapes. >> higgins quit doing paintings with figures. quite frankly, the pieces that are going to demand the most value in today's market are the ones with figures. >> for example, this higgins landscape sold for $130,000 in 2005. but a higgins similar to "ruth," entitled "four shawled women," sold at sotheby's for more than three times that amount, over 400 grand. that would be quite a payday. but remember, don and phyllis stuck the painting in their dusty basement for years. >> the canvas was a bit saggy, a

little bit loose. there was quite a bit of cracking in the paint. >> i'm thinking, "well, okay, maybe it'll draw $100,000." >> little does he know, mapes gets a far bigger offer for "ruth" even before he advertises the auction. david's on the road when a top dealer reaches him on his cellphone. >> he said, "i want to make you an offer before the auction." i pulled over. i said, "what's your offer?" he said, "$300,000." >> impressive. >> [ chuckles ] exactly what i said. >> even a small auction house in the middle of new york countryside, within a few weeks, it was apparent that everybody knew about it. >> mark sublette isn't surprised that big-city dealers would circle around the small-town auction house. >> generally, a painting like that's gonna go to one of the major auction houses. and as dealers, we hope that we might be able to get a bargain, quite frankly. >> did you call don? >> no, but things are going through my mind. if he wants to pay $300,000,

then other people are going to pay more. i thought about it for a short period of time, and i said, "no." >> that's risky, isn't it? >> it could be, but i was so confident in this picture and the market for it. >> next lot is the higgins. >> so, is the small-town auctioneer in over his head? >> okay. >> will savvy dealers paint him into a corner? or will ruth provide a windfall to a couple in their golden years? >> okay, we have $50,000 to start. who'll do $60,000? >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

♪there's a me no one knows ♪waiting to be set free so, what's the empty suitcase for? the grand prize trophy ♪i was born to be somebody >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> a victor higgins painting entitled "ruth" is headed for auction. art dealers are intrigued that a work by the famous taos society artist has turned up out of the blue, or, in this case, out of

the basement. >> as a dealer, we love to get pieces that are one-owner, family. it makes it more special. >> it's don and phyllis camp's strange and rather ironic inheritance. in their own words, they never cared much for ruth. >> what is it you didn't like? >> the lady looked very sad, like she was floundering. it left me with an empty feeling. >> listen, art is in the eye of the beholder. >> that's right. she's very lonely. i'm not a lonely person. >> but the lonely figure of ruth is precisely why an arizona art collector named ray harvey is so excited about the painting. >> the thing about higgins -- the figures are very rare, very hard to come by, and very much in demand. >> you were committed from the minute you saw the image? >> pretty much. >> you could say ray has a special interest in ruth. he purchased that similar higgins, entitled "four shawled women," from a private seller in

2008 for more than half a million bucks. was there extra intrigue because no one had seen "ruth"? >> definitely. it's just so nice when a painting like that comes up undiscovered. >> ray will be out of the country when ruth goes up on the block. he makes plans to watch the auction online from a hotel in positano, italy, and bid by phone. >> as it happens, don camp and his wife, phyllis, won't be there, either. they're visiting their daughter in taiwan. did you tell your daughter, "oh, by the way, while we're here, we're auctioning these two very ugly paintings we can't wait to unload"? >> [ laughs ] yes. >> we had 10 people on the telephones, fielding bids, and then we had a number of people in the audience. >> others are booting up their computers, like ray harvey in positano, where it's 1:00 a.m. >> you're always nervous about auctions, especially when you're buying something sight unseen.

>> are you already logged onto the internet? >> well, tried to. couldn't get on. the connection was bad, and i'm thinking, "i sure hope they can get through to me." >> then, just before the bidding gets under way, ray connects by phone with the auction house in upstate new york. >> what if the phone hadn't gone through? >> it's unfortunate. you would just miss out. guys like myself, i guess the chase is a big part of it. >> the first one is the lot 97, the karl hoerman. >> first, a warm-up -- the other painting that don inherited, entitled "desert landscape." >> margaret buys it at $1,100, 161. >> it sells for a more-than-expected $1,100. is that an omen for "ruth," who don and phyllis considered donating to the salvation army, if they didn't just throw her out? >> everybody on the phones? >> i asked for an opening bid, and it opened at $50,000. >> okay. we have $50,000 to start. who'll do $60,000? >> the dealer who offered david mapes 300k a month before

the auction is there and still eager to bid. so is ray harvey. >> $70,000. we have $80,000 in the back. now $90,000. $90,000. >> they had quite a bit of action on it. >> do you remember your first bid? >> it was $300,000. >> i have $300,000. >> okay, we have $300,000. >> that would have been a good price? >> that would have been a steal. >> can i get $310,000? >> no one's getting a steal today. >> $320,000. $330,000. >> it keeps on climbing, past 400k, $450,000. >> we get up to $500,000. >> anyone drop out at that point? >> oh, yeah, a lot of people did. it was down to ray harvey, plus the floor bidder. >> did you ever consider stopping? >> you know, there is a point we all have to stop. but no. >> $640,000's bid. $650,000. we have $650,000 on the phone from italy. >> going once, going twice... >> is the camera ready for this? [ laughter ] [ crowd cheering ] >> sold to the arizona art lover

ray harvey. >> you want the total number? >> sure, why not? >> $650,000. >> i'm gonna fall off my chair. >> okay. [ both laugh ] that's about what i did. i had no concept, no concept, that it was worth that much. >> holy smokes. >> as of now, that's the third highest price that his paintings have ever sold for. >> victor higgins' enigmatic painting of ruth darn near ended up in a dumpster. >> well, i think the main thing i like about it is the color and the simplicity of the woman. >> ray will soon loan "ruth" to various museums, but today, she lives in his entryway, looking every bit the masterpiece. >> and the condition to this day after so many years in a basement, under a bed sheet. >> it's an amazing story. and i refer a lot to paintings that are collection-makers, you know? this would be considered a collection-maker. >> here's my wedding. >> as for don and phyllis, that

unexpected windfall courtesy of "ruth," gives them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a charitable donation bigger than they ever imagined. they fund the completion of a well for a needy community in africa. >> we gave 1/4 of it to a christian mission in kenya so that that well could be completed. >> that's spectacular. what did you buy for yourself? >> we bought a new car. that was all. >> a ferrari? >> no. a honda odyssey. >> you're so sweet, phyllis. >> we were just grateful. >> turns out, don isn't the only one in the camp family who inherited a painting that once belonged to old uncle curtis. his big brother also got one by another prominent taos artist named walter ufer. the difference is don's brother actually liked his, so much so it's been hanging in his home for half a century.

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. activity. [♪] lou: good evening, everybody. president trump's week of winning rolls on. the president began this week setting a record for an incumbent president in the iowa caucus. tuesday the president addressed the state of the union, focusing on his historic administration achievements, and the blue collar boom. wednesday the president acquitted in the u.s. senate of the charges brought by the radical dimms and their impeachment farce ending a year