Attn Quincy, Mass Shyster, Tax, and anyone else who cares to chime in

[cbg]

That's right, I'd forgotten that you were still in law school then. You and Quincy both were a lot of help.

 

[Shadowbunny]

I am an author and an illustrator of children's books, and for years I was employed as both a journalist and an editor for a national news organization. I continue (on a vastly more limited scale) with all of these pursuits today.

Author? Illustrator? Did not know that -- how very cool that we have 2 published authors in our midst.

 

[quincy]

And you should note that we both have other jobs (that actually pay us). Haha.

 

[eerelations]

My mother made enough $ off her paintings in the last 20 years of her life that she could support herself and my father in a house she'd had built. She wasn't a millionaire, but she had enough for a good life. Including trips to Europe and other interesting places. But she was always upset about Mark Rothko.

 

[quincy]

My mother made enough $ off her paintings in the last 20 years of her life that she could support herself and my father in a house she'd had built. She wasn't a millionaire, but she had enough for a good life. Including trips to Europe and other interesting places. But she was always upset about Mark Rothko.

Upset about Rothko because ... ?

 

[eerelations]

Upset about Rothko because ... ?

He killed himself because he was always poor. Lived in poor places, ate poorly. A hand-to-mouth existence. Yet while he was living this way, he was acclaimed to be one of the best, possibly THE best, American abstract artist in the world. His galleries used to willy-nilly hand out photos of his paintings + photographers would go into the galleries and photograph his paintings. Giant coffee table books and other publications were made of these photos, and sold for millions of $. None of this money went to Rothko.

 

[quincy]

He killed himself because he was always poor. Lived in poor places, ate poorly. A hand-to-mouth existence. Yet while he was living this way, he was acclaimed to be one of the best, possibly THE best, American abstract artist in the world. His galleries used to hand out photos of his paintings + photographers would go into the galleries and photograph his paintings. Giant coffee table books and other publications were made of these photos, and sold for millions of $. None of this money went to Rothko.

Ahh. Yes. That has been the unfortunate fate of many famous artists. Their works are valued more after their deaths.

 

[eerelations]

Ahh. Yes. That has been the unfortunate fate of many famous artists. Their works are valued more after their deaths.

Actually his work was valued considerably before his death, it's just that everyone else was getting the money, not him. That's why he committed suicide. After several people got very wealthy due to his work, and he was still dumpster-diving for food, he killed himself.

 

[quincy]

Actually his work was valued considerably before his death, it's just that everyone else was getting the money, not him. That's why he committed suicide. After several people got very wealthy due to his work, and he was still dumpster-diving for food, he killed himself.

There are many other artists like him (minus the suicide). There is Seurat, Toulouse-Latrec, Van Gogh, Vermeer, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, El Greco...

You also have lesser known artists like Bill Traylor, a former slave who produced over 1500 artistic works, lived in poverty, died in a nursing home ... and whose works can now be found in the Museum of Modern Art. His works were only shown twice in his lifetime but he is now considered a significant 20th-century American artist.