Artists who kept their art? 2 2

[KirbyCollector]

A long time ago someone I know who was friends with a famous artist was invited with that artist to visit Walt. Walt decided to show the dealer some of his art, so he went to get it from the closet where it was kept. The art was not in portfolios, mind you, but simply stacked in a giant pile from floor to ceiling. I was horrified to hear this, thinking of the all the ways it could be easily damaged in such a setting (bugs, humidity, water, fire etc). The dealer thought it was no big deal, which confused me -- until I visited the dealer at his house and saw he stored art the exact same way 

Edited March 18, 2023 by KirbyCollector

[Ecclectica]

On 3/18/2023 at 2:07 PM, KirbyCollector said:

A long time ago someone I know who was friends with a famous artist was invited with that artist to visit Walt. Walt decided to show the dealer some of his art, so he went to get it from the closet where it was kept. The art was not in portfolios, mind you, but simply stacked in a giant pile from floor to ceiling. I was horrified to hear this, thinking of the all the ways it could be easily damaged in such a setting (bugs, humidity, water, fire etc). The dealer thought it was no big deal, which confused me -- until I visited the dealer at his house and saw he stored art the exact same way 

I would have reacted the same way. I don't understand the concept of stacks of art, without a protection of any kind, at dealers' tables or anywhere else.

I didn't like it 25 years ago, and even less today.

At dealers' tables, it almost a horrible vision to discover prices in "K" in stacks like these... Too bad I lost some pics about a really messy famous booth seen three years ago... (art pieces under broken frames mixed with stand- alone art pieces, all in "K" range, for example... and the guy relaxing comfortably in his chair). It was really funny to see him realizing after 5 minutes why I was taking all these pics of his booth...

[pemart1966]

On 3/18/2023 at 12:37 AM, Brian Peck said:

 Not sure if Gold Key returned any of his art.

I've never seen a single solitary page of his Mighty Samson art.  Have you or do you know of anyone that has any of those pages?

I don't know what the Gold Key policy was.  All I know is that there is precious little of it out there relative to what was produced.

[tth2]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:07 PM, KirbyCollector said:

A long time ago someone I know who was friends with a famous artist was invited with that artist to visit Walt. Walt decided to show the dealer some of his art, so he went to get it from the closet where it was kept. The art was not in portfolios, mind you, but simply stacked in a giant pile from floor to ceiling. I was horrified to hear this, thinking of the all the ways it could be easily damaged in such a setting (bugs, humidity, water, fire etc). The dealer thought it was no big deal, which confused me -- until I visited the dealer at his house and saw he stored art the exact same way 

The greatest collection in comic book history was stored that way and didn't seem to suffer too much as a result.  And condition actually matters in comic collecting.

[babsrocks31]

There are also a lot of smaller artists that provided quality work on big books and likely didn't sell their work when it was most valuable, so now you can get them at great rates. 

But this is only worth it if you are buying art you like instead of the investment side of things.

[vodou]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:07 AM, KirbyCollector said:

Walt decided to show the dealer some of his art, so he went to get it from the closet where it was kept. The art was not in portfolios, mind you, but simply stacked in a giant pile from floor to ceiling. I was horrified to hear this, thinking of the all the ways it could be easily damaged in such a setting (bugs, humidity, water, fire etc). The dealer thought it was no big deal, which confused me -- until I visited the dealer at his house and saw he stored art the exact same way 

On 3/18/2023 at 11:19 AM, Ecclectica said:

I would have reacted the same way. I don't understand the concept of stacks of art, without a protection of any kind, at dealers' tables or anywhere else.

On 3/18/2023 at 11:19 AM, Ecclectica said:

At dealers' tables, it almost a horrible vision to discover prices in "K" in stacks like these...

Er, like this?

Or this?

That’s two. I can keep going, quite a few more and that’s just what’s on board and/or unframed…if there’s interest 😉

On 3/18/2023 at 11:34 AM, tth2 said:

And condition actually matters in comic collecting.

And is nearly immaterial in art collecting if priced correctly 🥰

[grapeape]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:06 AM, vodou said:

Er, like this?

Or this?

That’s two. I can keep going, quite a few more and that’s just what’s on board and/or unframed…if there’s interest 😉

And is nearly immaterial in art collecting if priced correctly 🥰

Much neater than John Byrne's closet before JW got in there and cleaned it up.

[grapeape]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:19 AM, Ecclectica said:

I would have reacted the same way. I don't understand the concept of stacks of art, without a protection of any kind, at dealers' tables or anywhere else.

I didn't like it 25 years ago, and even less today.

At dealers' tables, it almost a horrible vision to discover prices in "K" in stacks like these... Too bad I lost some pics about a really messy famous booth seen three years ago... (art pieces under broken frames mixed with stand- alone art pieces, all in "K" range, for example... and the guy relaxing comfortably in his chair). It was really funny to see him realizing after 5 minutes why I was taking all these pics of his booth...

I was going through Saul Zimmerman's portfolios a few years ago. I saw a page I was interested in and asked for permission to take it out and look it over.

👍 

So I take it out holding it carefully but confident in my curating- handle skills.

A nice woman (Sauls wife?) smiled and said something like:

it's funny seeing you guys be so careful with the pages. They used to stack them high on tables at conventions and handle them without care.

Yeah, I thought. But people weren't paying the kind of money for those stacked boards as they are now 😊 

I am very careful with art once I possess it. But they are ONE OF A KIND not built to last. So as long as I don't see guys flinging pages across the showroom I don't get to bothered. 
Stack them to the ceiling for all I care.
 

I get hot though when somebody ships art improperly using wrong methods and materials. In other words, the deliberate negligence of handling art and causing additional defects that need not exist riles me up. 
 

That's unnecessary roughness!

 

[Ecclectica]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:06 PM, vodou said:

Er, like this?

Well, remember, I added "without a protection of any kind". 

What I can see here in these stacks : lots of mylars, protective papers, wood layers and probably others things that I can't see ! (and no broken frames parts in the middle that would disturb the balance...)

That's indeed neat stacks (and we aren't on a booth here !). How could I criticize that ?

Edited March 18, 2023 by Ecclectica

[Rick2you2]

Although he is a more recent artist, Phil Winslade doesn't sell his art.

Neither does Raul Fernandez.

[Brian Peck]

On 3/18/2023 at 8:34 AM, tth2 said:

The greatest collection in comic book history was stored that way and didn't seem to suffer too much as a result.  And condition actually matters in comic collecting.

Alan Davis years ago stored alot of his art that way including most of his excalibur art. Then a collector came along and bought most of it.

 

[vodou]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:22 PM, Brian Peck said:

Then a collector came along and bought most of it.

That collector did very well on it too!

[Taylor G]

On 3/18/2023 at 9:07 AM, KirbyCollector said:

The art was not in portfolios, mind you, but simply stacked in a giant pile from floor to ceiling.

The problem I see is access.  I'm sure there is plenty of art that has sat in piles like that for literally decades.  What's the point?  It's not gold bullion.  Isn't art supposed to be looked at?  At least a lot of Walt's art is now available in artists editions, no longer mouldering in a closet.

P Craig Russell has tried to keep his own art.  There is a story of him at Flo's desk the Marvel office back in the day when he saw the art for one of his stories on her desk.  This was when the policy was to return some art to the artist and some to the writer.  So Craig took the art, removed all the dialogue balloons, and left them with a note for the writer, This is what you contributed to the story.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Taylor G

[wurstisart]

Kelley Jones.

[comix4fun]

Judging by the last few years auctions...Murphy Anderson kept a lot of his artwork.

[Dick Pontoon]

On 3/19/2023 at 6:32 AM, Taylor G said:

The problem I see is access.  I'm sure there is plenty of art that has sat in piles like that for literally decades.  What's the point?  It's not gold bullion.  Isn't art supposed to be looked at?  At least a lot of Walt's art is now available in artists editions, no longer mouldering in a closet.

P Craig Russell has tried to keep his own art.  There is a story of him at Flo's desk back in the day when he saw the art for one of his stories on her desk.  This was when the policy was to return some art to the artist and some to the writer.  So Craig took the art, removed all the dialogue balloons, and left them with a note for the writer, This is what you contributed to the story.

Flo Steinberg? P. Craig Russell? Something is amiss with that story, she left Marvel years before he worked there.

[JC25427N]

 

On 3/19/2023 at 5:17 PM, MR. Pontoon said:

Flo Steinberg? P. Craig Russell? Something is amiss with that story, she left Marvel years before he worked there.

 

It was Don McGregor not Flo, at least according to how Denys tells the story here (timestamped)

Edited March 19, 2023 by JC25427N

[christosgage]

Chris Samnee kept his art for a very long time, only selling sketches and commissions. After a while he started selling some stuff...covers for books he didn't also do the interiors for, and some shorter runs like Captain America. I believe with his growing family and large body of work space was becoming an issue. Not sure what his policy is now. He's really fast, so I can see it stacking up!

Interesting about the Kuberts...I have encountered an artist or two who went to the Kubert school and also keep their art because he advised them to. I believe Andy Smith is one.

I think a lot of artists keep a few pages here or there that they are attached to for whatever reason. When I was doing Avengers Academy with Tom Grummett, one issue started out with a splash of Hercules, naked, demonstrating throwing a discus to the students. The joke was that, as an immortal, he couldn't keep track of what was acceptable behavior in the modern era, and he was recreating the first Olympics as they took place, with nude competitors. Tom said his wife informed him she wanted that page! LOL.

[christosgage]

On 3/17/2023 at 10:55 AM, KirbyCollector said:

Was watching last night's podcast with Walt Simonson,  who has notoriously kept a sizable amount of his own art and publishes his own OA editions. Is he the best example of this, among Silver/Bronze age artists? 

Which podcast was this? I'd love to see it. Thanks!

[KirbyCollector]

On 3/21/2023 at 1:25 PM, christosgage said:

Which podcast was this? I'd love to see it. Thanks!

https://www.marvel.com/xmen60event