Balzer Designs

Buying Artwork

I read an article yesterday that fascinated and alarmed me.  You should read it.  It's from The Boston Globe and the title is, "You can buy a painting, but it’s not really yours."

In essentials, some artists retain rights to their work after the sale including -- but not limited to -- banning the resale of their work (and often insisting that the buyer donate the work to a museum later in life), determining how or if a work of art can be cleaned, receiving a 15% commission if the work is re-sold, and so on.

On the one hand, I get it.  On the other hand, wtf?

I'm trying to sort out my feelings and so I've made a list of facts and thoughts to assist the process.

• Artists retain the copyright to their work even after it's sold.  (This is a good article that is very easy to read and understand.)  This means that the artist can sell prints and even license the artwork for sheets, coffee cups, notebooks, etc.  The buyer of the artwork cannot.  They are buying the physical object.  This is something I agree with.
• The Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990 grants "moral rights" to artists.  From Wikipedia: "Under VARA, works of art that meet certain requirements afford their authors additional rights in the works, regardless of any subsequent physical ownership of the work itself, or regardless of who holds the copyright to the work. For instance, a painter may insist on proper attribution of his painting, and in some instances may sue the owner of the physical painting for destroying the painting even if the owner of the painting lawfully owned it....

  VARA exclusively grants authors of works that fall under the protection of the Act the following rights

  • right to claim authorship
  • right to prevent the use of one's name on any work the author did not create
  • right to prevent use of one's name on any work that has been distorted, mutilated, or modified in a way that would be prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation
  • right to prevent distortion, mutilation, or modification that would prejudice the author's honor or reputation

  Additionally, authors of works of "recognized stature" may prohibit intentional or grossly negligent destruction of a work."

• I understand that early in an artist's career he/she might sell a painting for a few hundred dollars and then later that painting is worth thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I totally understand why this may feel unfair to the artist.  But, I do think that the buyer paid the artist what they asked for at the time and should have the right to sell the work.  The commission idea seems like a kind of compromise -- both buyer and artist make a profit together.  
• I wonder all the time if my hard work will just end up in a landfill.  I suppose the insistence on work being donated to a museum ensures that this isn't true.  But the truth is, most museums have more stuff not on display than stuff on display.  Do I really want my work to sit in a basement warehouse for its lifetime?  Is that a better fate than in the home of someone who likes it?
• Mostly, I wonder why anyone would buy a piece of art under these insane circumstances?  It's not an investment.  It's not even something you can pass down to your children.  I guess it's just something to enjoy in the moment?
• Obviously, the most extreme of these restrictions only apply to super famous artists who are selling work for millions of dollars.  But that's also a question.  Why?  When I sell a painting for $1000, it means as much to me as a million dollar painting does to someone higher up the food chain.

I don't know.  Maybe I've just confused myself more.  What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Skill Building

Today's podcast is packed with fun art-related talk: my pottery obsession...er, class, the MFA Museum Council, and work by Yayoi Kusama and Cecilia Vicuña.

If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link.  You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time.  It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen.  If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here.  You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire.  I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art.  It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art.  Please subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or wherever you listen and be sure to leave us a review!  Reviews help other people find the podcast.  Thanks so much!

I will do a long post all about pottery class very soon.  But in the meantime, here is the instagram video I talk about on the podcast with the guy making the little pots.  It's AMAZING (and if you don't see it, here is a direct link).

I also wanted to share two photos from the Yayoi Kusama installation (the first is inside the installation and the second is a photo of one of the "peepholes"):

And this is the Cecilia Vicuña piece:

And here is an historical quipu:

You can read more about quipus here.

Finally, here is a link to the Museum Council instagram account.  I posted a video of the Yayoi Kusama experience to that account:

And a video of Cecilia Vicuña singing:

(If you don't see the two videos above, click through to my blog.)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Sacré-Cœur

I think that this is the last of the posts from Paris.  At the top of Montmartre, is Sacré-Couer -- a beautiful church.  I might almost say that I think it's better than Notre Dame...but don't tell anyone that I said that!  Take a peek and judge for yourself:

It was beautiful and filled with art and artistic touches.  When we emerged from the church, there were two young men singing that soldier song from the Bizet opera, Carmen.  It was pretty magical.

If you're interested:

• Catholic Art
• Mosaic Art
• Top 10 Facts about the Sacré-Cœur, Paris

Thanks for stopping by!

Picasso Museum: Part Two

Here is part two of my Picasso Museum visit. Not everything you will see is inspired by Guernica, some of it is the beautiful architecture of the building (and a few photos of Picasso's work that seem to have been carried over from yesterday's post by accident as well as some more Picasso originals).  Enjoy!

So, two things to point out: (1) I did buy an eye mirror and drag it back home from Paris (of course) and (2) that wooden bench comes completely apart into those few parts you see stuck to the wall.  It's very cool design!

I would definitely go back to the Picasso Museum, especially because I *have* to go when all four floors are open for visitors, right?!

Thanks for stopping by!

Picasso Museum: Part One

One of the museums that I was the most psyched to visit in Paris was the Picasso Museum!  When we got there, they mentioned that two of the floors were closed at the moment, but I didn't care.  I was giddy with happy excitement to be there at all!

The exhibit I'm sharing with you today is work Picasso created in preparation for one of his masterworks: Guernica.  In case you don't know anything about Guernica, this is from PabloPicasso.org:

Probably Picasso's most famous work, Guernica is certainly the his most powerful political statement, painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi's devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention.

This work is seen as an amalgmation of pastoral and epic styles. The discarding of color intensifis the drama, producing a reportage quality as in a photographic record. Guernica is blue, black and white, 3.5 metre (11 ft) tall and 7.8 metre (25.6 ft) wide, a mural-size canvas painted in oil. This painting can be seen in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.

Interpretations of Guernica vary widely and contradict one another. This extends, for example, to the mural's two dominant elements: the bull and the horse. Art historian Patricia Failing said, "The bull and the horse are important characters in Spanish culture. Picasso himself certainly used these characters to play many different roles over time. This has made the task of interpreting the specific meaning of the bull and the horse very tough. Their relationship is a kind of ballet that was conceived in a variety of ways throughout Picasso's career."

Some critics warn against trusting the political message in Guernica. For instance the rampaging bull, a major motif of destruction here, has previouse figured, whether as a bull or Minotaur, as Picasso' ego. However, in this instance the bull probably represents the onslaught of Fascism. Picasso said it meant brutality and darkness, presumably reminiscent of his prophetic. He also stated that the horse represented the people of Guernica.

I have never seen the actual Guernica in person, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to view much of Picasso's "study" work for the epic painting.  Not all of it was created as preparation for Guernica, but you can see how that work came out of this work.  Take a peek:











You might have noticed one piece in these photos that was not by Picasso.  Rather it was "inspired by Guernica" -- the art version of fan fic, I suppose.  Tomorrow I'll be sharing tons of photos of what I found on the second floor of the museum: work by other artists, inspired by Guernica.

Thanks for stopping by!