Concerned about who will take care of your work after you have passed away?

[GWayne]

Hi! I have had discussions with my wife and a close friend about this subject. Are any of the artists on this forum concerned about what will happen to their work after they have passed away? I am just curious to hear other thoughts/viewpoints.

GWayne

[HappySculpting]

Hi GWayne,

This is something that I often think about even though I'm only 35 yrs. old. I wonder who will have my sculptures and where might they be in a hundred years. Will they be on the antiques roadshow and because their antique be viewed as more valuable due to the age? Or will they be in some dusty old antiques store for $25.? Or will the family that I give these to in my will end up taking good care of them or sell them? So many questions.

Working with fired clay and glazing my pieces helps to further give them strength and so they have the potential to last for hundreds of years. I hope my posterity will live on with them and that they will be enjoyed for many years. Hope the love and joy I had in making them will live on vicariously through the finished sculpture....

[GWayne]

Happy Sculpting,

Hi! Thanks for your response. I just hope that the people who now have my work will take care of it, and enjoy it for many years. I always like to view artwork by new artists. In your profile it says that you sculpt Victorian dolls. Do you have a website?

GWayne

[oddist]

I was once asked how long one of my steel sculptures would last outdoors.

I said it would rust.

I was then asked if it would last the buyers life-time.

I said yes...probably.

They responded--"That's all that matters".
------

Actually, after my life-time it won't matter to me either.

[HappySculpting]

GWayne,

Thanks for showing an interest in my work. I don't have a website as yet but I do have an almost completed sculpture that I'll soon be posting in this forum to get the "serious" critique.

Re: What happens to our sculptures when we're gone.... It matters to me what happens to them past my lifetime. Maybe it has something to do with sculpture being a passion in this lifetime and adds so much meaning to my life and if in the future they are regarded as worthwhile then... it makes the making of them now meaningful.

[ahirschman]

Originally Posted by HappySculpting

Hi GWayne,

Working with fired clay and glazing my pieces helps to further give them strength and so they have the potential to last for hundreds of years. I hope my posterity will live on with them and that they will be enjoyed for many years. Hope the love and joy I had in making them will live on vicariously through the finished sculpture....

Hi GWayne, I was just looking at an unglazed clay jar (about 7" tall) that is a little over 2000 years old and sits in a shelf in my living room. At the time I bought that one I also bought a small clay oil lamp to give as a gift that was a litle older than 3000 years. So, your art has a great potential of lasting a very long time.

I too think a lot about the longevity of my work. I do a lot of cast sculptures with polyurethane, but would rather use bronze because of its tested longevity. Right now I am in the process of building a medium size sculpture. It is all steel, and knowing that steel rusts I am at least using fairly thick cross sections (Nothing thiner than 1/8"). I hope that by using thicker sections it is easier to repair.

Not to scare any one... but I vividly remember driving by a trash can and seeing a painting next to the can. I did not see how good it was, but still, it was a painting and it was about to have its life terminated :-( I always hope that none of my works end that way.

[bluedogshuz]

You know its funny. I am more interested if anyone will remember me after I'm after I'm gone?! Not that it will matter. I will tell you what is a weird feeling is after not seeing my brother for 20 years and seeing 2 paintings and a sculpture I had given him. I was really touched. Also the work was interesting, kind of like seeing an old friend and saying "how you been!"
If they have merit they may last, I just sold 2 properties this week and in the contract guess what they wanted to stay? Paintings and sculpture. Cool, huh?

[Landseer]

Pretty cool!

I have heard of appliances staying in a real estate sale but not paintings and sculpture
I have actually heard of a sale that included an old dog who lived on the property, the arrangement was that the dog would stay there, and did.
One thing I like about architectural applications of some of my pieces is that something like a restored 1880's townhouse in a landmark district is likely to STAY there, with my 10 sculptures in the facade.