It is something like the discussion about what is meant by MVP in baseball or football. Is it the best player in the league or is it the most valuable player, thereby essentially eliminating players on teams that do not win?
The Fifty will consist of the favorite pieces of art that I was able to acquire in the past and hopefully in the future as well. To honor the spirit, and because you have to start somewhere, I have tried to designate pieces in my collection as part of The Fifty. But when I went to look at the best of my best, some pieces were artistically better or perhaps from more renowned and even more talented artists than some of those I chose for The Fifty. That is because The Fifty will be about the art I love.
I intend to live with my art. I now have 9 pieces of framed art. Two really do not count, as I framed them myself. My two Cerebus pages. Two others were purchased framed. They are up on the walls but will likely end up switched out of the frames for better pieces. That leaves five pieces I have taken to the framers (Michaels!) myself. Only one of these, the Barry Windsor-Smith Storyteller splash page, has been revealed as part of The Fifty but the other four are in as well.
Here is that Storyteller splash again, just for kicks
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| framed BWS Storyteller splash page Young Gods pg 4 |
As you can see, it is now framed and on the wall. It is next to some more framed BWS art. I have refrained from showing multiple pieces from the same artist for The Fifty so far, but you know it is going to happen. And certainly BWS will have at least two pieces in there. I can tell you Tony Harris, JHW3, and BWS all have more than one piece in The Fifty as it now stands.
I don't know if I have said anything new about The Fifty here. But the fact that I intend to have all of The Fifty framed and on my walls is definitely the intention. If not for all the moisture I might even consider placing the Merli in the bathroom with all the salmon and pinks we have in one of them! But Clea will be framed, last perhaps because the size makes it more expensive per square inch, but she will be framed for sure. Or bounced from the Fifty by then, but I cannot see that happening.
You see, The Fifty as a concept comes from the fact that I am aging and getting closer to death every day. that certainly hasn't changed but it has become more pronounced as of late. So I acknowledge that I will eventually die. And I do not want to leave my heirs and loved ones my art, because they could not care less. It would be a problem more than an inheritance. So I will sell it off eventually.
And I have over 600 items now.
Maybe even 700.
And I still buy stuff like crazy. So I figured if I sold 50 more items every year than I bought, I would lose 500 items in the next ten years. That would leave me with 150-200 pieces, plus the 10 or so I buy every year now anyway. That is another 100 pieces over those 10 years, making it more like 250-300. In ten years. After selling off 500 items. I am 46 now, so I would be 56 with the distilled essence of my current collection plus some goodies to yet be acquired.
Yeah, I could deal with that. In fact, I am making it happen as we speak. You may recall from a previous post that I consigned 31 items to Comic Link. Five have sold and 31 more to go -most in October and maybe some later even this year. Taxes won't be so bad since I lost money big time so far on these! But the money will be liquid soon and not art, so that counts for something I guess.
So between having too much art to live with, and more importantly too much to die with, and having bills to pay and college coming up and all that...well, The Fifty was born.
I will be getting four or five more pieces framed when the first check from Comic Link comes through and it will be a blast to throw some more art up on the walls. I am getting the original art from a concert poster - New Year's Eve of The Millenium for Ratdog, Planet Drum, and Hot Tuna - framed for the living room wall. Tim Truman painted this and it is fantastic!
That won't be in The Fifty as I do not think it qualifies, but I may change my opinion on that in the future.
Okay, too much blathering!
Take care and be well everyone!
2 comments:
I have also come to the same conclusion that eventually I will sell all my art. Rather than burden my wife at the end, I also will whittle down my collection over time. Luckily for me I have 200+ pieces, not 700+.
Yeah Steve, I consigned 36 items to Comic Link and may send them another 15-20 before the year is over. That would be about 50 more items than I have purchased this year.
And next year, and another 50 or so pieces, is right around the corner.
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