It seems that my “blogs” are always based on a question looking for answers. So, here comes another one. What happens to an artist’s work once he or she is unable to continue to paint and/or show the paintings? I am not necessarily thinking of the very successful, well-known painter but, rather, the local artist whose work finds its way into working-class homes.
Painters are usually painting on a steady basis – some to the point of obsessiveness. They generally have a cache of work ready to go into galleries or art shows. Their studio walls are stocked with works completed or in progress. Some paintings take years to sell and others may never sell. What happens when the artist is unable to paint or promote?
Van Gogh was a prolific painter yet never sold a painting during his lifetime – despite the fact that his brother was director of an art gallery in Paris. Van Gogh’s work certainly wasn’t valued while he was alive. There is a story that his landlady used a few of his paintings to plug holes in her chicken coop. The artist’s body of work was, fortunately, collected and documented by his sister-in -law after his death. Van Gogh was fortunate. His work could have been destroyed through years of obscurity.
Paintings often take days, weeks, or months to complete. They involve skill, passion and a trained eye. To successfully distribute them, i.e. sell, involves a whole different set of skills. Those painters who feel that they have someone who will act as Van Gogh’s sister-in-law did, are the fortunate ones. Other artists sit and worry about their paintings that have involved so much time, energy, and inspiration. They wonder who will take care of their work. The artist can only hope that someone will care enough to want to preserve it.
Comment
Debra Renner
I love that you posted this about Van Gogh. I have often wondered about the fellow artists that I have known over the years that have passed on and what became of their work. I supposed their families took them into their homes as a treasure. One community nurse I shared my office with did a body of work portraying the patients at a nursing home in various poses of their daily lives. It was a commissioned works for their grand opening. She had several that were up in our office. The pictures were of people in their wheelchairs, maybe eating their lunch in a group of others around a table with thier trays, or laughing with friends playing a game. Some were raw and emotional, and I recall one of a woman slumped in her wheelchair, sleeping.
There were quite a few of us nurses that painted. We were also working in mental health at the various hospitals in Calgary, Alberta. I’m so hoping that people think about getting these paintings out in the open going back to the source of the artists inspiration, like a nursing home and have them displayed there. I later heard that one of the doctors we worked with was supposed to have done just that for our nursing collegue at the mental health comunity clinic.
I hope others will comment on this personal note that you left for us to leave comments. Thanks Sandra.